Celebrate and Share the Harvest

The pandemic has raised the profile for a healthier lifestyle and wellbeing, be it physical and mental exercise or better nutrition, diet and good ‘fresh’ food. Even the fast food outlets have realised that we need more fresh food and that we can’t live on carbs, processed food and heavily sweetened and salted food alone. Consumers have been increasingly wary of sugar and salt levels and supermarkets that have all but destroyed seasonality and wonky food and are now realising that ‘shrinkwrapped and perfect’ 365 x 24 may not be the solution sought by all.

I can still remember my childhood and those bountiful and colourful harvest festivals. Each autumn school halls and church halls were decorated, and everyone brought in their own grown produce of all shapes and sizes to celebrate and share the harvest. We still have Harvest festivals, but we now have less space, and many people have lost or never learnt the skills or had the confidence to grow their own.

Our waiting list, like many others, has exploded over the lockdown period and continues to grow with people wanting to grow, enjoy fresh food and improve their health and wellbeing. There are no quick fixes to meeting this demand, and understanding the true latent demand is an interesting challenge especially in the urban and inner cities.

Allotments today can often produce more than the plot holder’s families can consume. Allotments are not allowed to sell produce to the public and when all the pickling, jam, chutney, freezing and wine opportunities have been exhausted, we often find there are still excesses.

Last week there was a wonderful picture on Social Media of a fantastic harvest of food a plot holder had donated to their local food bank. This is to be commended and it was not for commercial gain. Also last week I discussed opportunities to donate on a site, or even borough basis, with a local church whose parish together with other dominations run a food bank and who this year have been supplying food boxes to those needing direct assistance. Throughout the country, allotments and plot holders have programmes to donate their excess produce to many worthy initiatives and long may this continue and be encouraged.

The question is, can we do it better?

Last year we contributed our site excess plus produce grown at our Canary Wharf allotment to a local kitchen. It’s was not always easy to collect, very unpredictable and obviously has to be delivered ‘fresh’ at the right time. We also had talks about linking the kitchen to another charity that could train youngsters how to prepare and cook the produce.

One challenge we have is that we have such an ethnic mix of cultures that there is often more exotic food than traditional and donating non-traditional food to the wrong audience can be a wasted exercise and visa versa. We spoke to some charities who ran kitchens and they declined food on the basis we could not guarantee supply and more importantly they really wanted was tinned, dry goods more than fresh. This was what both the cooks and clients expected. It is no good presenting someone who desperately needs food with a plate of patti pans, yellow courgettes, mangetout and black potatoes.

So the answers are not simple: there are no one size fits all, and often its also down to the logistics of getting the right produce to the right place, right people and at the right time. Real ‘fresh’ and organic produce often doesn’t have that supermarket extended shelf life.

Perhaps it’s the perfect time for council allotment sites to actively involve local charities and health bodies in their allotments and extend their appreciation of health and wellbeing. After all, allotment benefits are far greater than Parks and Open Space.

The balance of benefits from keeping any initiative local, against extending it to cover a borough or even larger community is an interesting one. Dealing with different ethnic and cultural tastes is another. However we should be cognisant that our allotments are community land and we are privileged to have it and work it, and finding ways to share the harvest with those less fortunate should always be on the agenda.

A Plot Break

Normally I would not worry about going away and leaving the allotment for a week or even two, but this year has been different, and we haven’t been away since February and that seems an age ago. During that time Lottie and I have been at the allotments most days and it’s looking good and been a sanctuary for all in these difficult times.

So now Annie and I are off for two weeks and Lottie is off to her doggie hotel. I think she knows as she is not letting me out of her sight. She too has grown accustomed to going to the plot every day and having us both around all the time. With dogs it is all about routine.

So what will happen? Will the plot suddenly become bare and unloved? Will Lottie be lonely? Will the birds, squirrels and foxes plunder all the food?

The site is very lucky in having a good group of allotment volunteers. Maite is one of these diamonds who just loves gardening and helping out. She is on our waiting list but like many just can’t wait so she often helps out at the Canary Wharf Crossrail allotment and rooftop gardens and has also been looking after our Site Manager’s plot while he has been in lockdown. Now she is going to take care of my plot while we are away.

My neighbour, who I wrote about a few days ago, will be back next week but I don’t want to burden her with two plots as she gets back from 16 weeks of lockdown so I’ve asked Maeite to water mine but keep an eye on both plots. It’s back breaking work watering two plots that are full of produce and I often give up counting the number of watering cans used and just turn into ‘robowaterer’.

‘Why are you arranging for her to have your key?’ asks Lottie as she watches Maite walk away down the allotment path.

‘She is doing something for me next week.’ I reply quickly looking the other way.

‘Why were you showing her what to water?’ Lottie gives me one of those doleful looks, ‘You’re not leaving me are you?’

‘Just going on holiday’ I reply.

I quickly move over to the beans and pretend to inspect them noting the blackfly are at last no longer taking over but that the snails are now heaving their houses up the stems to take over and experience skyscraper life. I pick one big one off and send it flying across to the disused bank area. I wonder if he will make a soft landing in the brambles and join the little estate I have rehoused there?

Glancing at Lottie she still has that unfinished conversation look on her face but is now flopping down on her cushions for a nap.

It’s strange to go away just as everything is coming into its own. But that’s life, and it is good to be able to let Maite have whatever is ready to pick for her kind labour.

I look around the plot and wonder, should I have sown those lettuce and beetroot seeds and will she remember to water them? Will she remember to water the vines on the bank and Cape gooseberries on the deck? Will I have any tomatoes or French beans left to harvest? Do Spanish water as much as we do?

I remember a few years ago my daughter looked after the plot while we were away. The sweet corn looked great and nearly ready when we went away and when we returned it had all been picked.

‘What happened to the sweet corn?’ I asked.

‘Had to pick it before it went past it sell by,’ came the response.

I said, ‘Any left?’

‘No but it tasted really good. You should grow more next year.’

I said, ‘I’ll have to, but sow later I think’.

You have to let those who care for your plot have some reward. It would cost a bomb to pay someone and they would still want the pickings.

Well it’s off to sea, sun and friends and see you all again later in August. 

The Great Plot Divide

Its great to read every day about folk getting their first plot. The enthusiasm and raw desire to get started is clearly conveyed in their postings and brings back memories of when we all got that starter plot. Often overgrown and neglected, full of weeds and with a shed which often was a living tribute to the adhesive properties of gaffer tape and DIY skills, it still a plot. That first plot was for all of us our first step on the ladder to so much.

The time it takes to get a plot varies according to where you live, in some cases plots are waiting to be taken, in others you may have to wait twenty years and still may never get one. Demand varies significantly with metropolitan and inner city plots being the hardest to get. Some say that's life, others something needs to be done, but the disparity between plot rich and plot poor is growing and plot poverty exists even today in our enlightened, environmentally and community world.

Some will say 'so what' and we don't have a problem and ignore the high waiting lists and latent demand that exists in some areas. It's no longer acceptable to view allotments in isolation and growing food is becoming a need that allotments alone can't solve.

Allotments were created and enshrined in law because the social economic and community benefits were seen and the need to give a better life, nutrition and escape for many caught in the squalor on the poor industrial areas of the late 19th century or working in rural areas with little or no space within the land hierarchy of the day.

So what about today?

At least four application every week are added to our already long waiting list. They ask, 'How long do I have to wait?'

You have to respond that you can't say and that the current top of the list has waited four years, but its impossible to predict because there are so many factors and virtually all are outside your control. The one certainty is that many will never see that starter plot and those that do will have had to wait a very long time.

Still they want to be in the list.

The only other waiting list that springs to mind that is similar in length is for social housing and again there is huge variance between different locations and again metropolitan and inner cities have the longest lists.

Interestingly and not to be overlooked, allotments are often the only place where diverse cultures and ethnic backgrounds, together with a wide range of ages and social backgrounds, all mix together with a common interest and love of growing. This in itself demonstrates what a great social leveller and integrator allotment growing is today.

Can anything be done or is it just a sign of the times and down to the multiple demands for and availability of land?

Some are against cutting plot sizes down, which is a nice luxury to support and easily in plot rich low waiting list areas, but is it supportable in plot poor high waiting list areas? Like many urban and metropolitan sites our full plots are not 250 square metres but 100 square metres maximum and 10% of our plots are half that and our waiting list is over 200% oversubscribed today.

There is little hope of any new open space, the competition for civic open space is acute and we have to do things differently and work differently and not ignore those waiting but embrace them and find ways of involving them or getting them gardening. Perhaps we have to look at different forms of membership, working with other groups and unlocking this great demand and not ignore it. A helping the local authorities and planners to think holistically at the issue.

Some have said community gardens are not allotments and nothing to do with allotments. The spaces used are often temporary and open to all. I say this is both naive and disingenuous to those who just want to grow. Perhaps we need to help embrace community gardening and work with others to create a new community model.

Some say that they wish they could organise transport and bring the long waiting lists for some areas to areas with little or no waiting lists. This fails to recognise that allotments and communities are joined at the hip and the close proximity of allotments to housing is key and 'busing' folk to land breaks that important connection.

The solutions, the initiatives, the awareness and changing or starting to address plot poverty will be different for different areas. If we try to find ways to engage with and involve the waiting list the rewards could be significant for all. Can we afford to turn our back on the issue in some resignation  that we

are ok and its someone else's problem. We must end this inward looking perspective otherwise we are in danger of loosing the very essence of why allotments were enshrine and protected in statute.

Let's work at at least reducing plot poverty and closing the divide between plot rich and plot poor. 

Allotment in the Sky

This week we were given permission to return to tend our Society allotment plot at the new Queen Elizabeth Crossrail rooftop garden at Canary Wharf. Since lock-down we have not been allowed to work the allotment and today we have to observe some new clothing requirements and don our high visibility jackets and thick gardening gloves. Everyone who works on the allotment must be licenced to do so by the Canary Wharf Group.

The original idea of an allotment in these precious roof top gardens was conceived by our ex Chair and now National Society Mentor, Paula Owen. What made her think of it remains a mystery, but it was clearly a stroke of genius and a tribute to her gardening passion. Last year our allotments were given the space by our sponsors Canary Wharf Group and we set about transforming the plot into a diverse and all year-round plot. The gardens themselves won an award in 2019 under the Blooming Britain contest and our plot, be it small, is now firmly part of the gardens.

Our Vice Chair Tatiana drove Paula’s vision into reality and established the gardens with the help of a team of volunteers, some members and some from our waiting list, and created a plot to be proud of. 

The initial planting was attended by Jeff Barber, our London Chair and National Regional Representative, and the volunteers have included the children from our school plot.

The plot is maintained on a regular basis and under Tatiana’s supervision and aims to demonstrate to all the many garden visitors and Canary Wharf workers who take their breaks and relax there what can be grown in a small space and the work of the local allotments on the Island.

Tatiana has a new community greenhouse back at the allotments which is always overflowing with plants which are primarily for the roof top allotment but also given to members via the plant swaps and giveaways she organises.

Canary Wharf Group has been a great supporter of the allotments and we also benefit from deliveries of used coffee granules from the many cafes within the malls and bamboo canes cut from the exotic part of the gardens.

Today we turned up, tidied up removing the leggy spinach and overgrown herbs and then set about planting out beans, chillies, tomatoes, a cola plant and squash and admired the Cape gooseberries already setting their fruit. All the produce we harvest from the allotment is given to a local kitchen run for the community by the Mudchute Farm.

When I look at the plot, I am drawn not by the diversity of what we are growning, the high-rise skyscraper location which is somewhat amazing, but by the opportunity and example it sets. If every developer, not only of enormous commercial and residential areas such as Canary Wharf but of smaller and focused retail developments and residential estates, followed just a fraction of the initiative we have established in Canary Wharf then we could really start to transform gardens, parks, open space from look-but-don’t-touch heavily managed often low maintenance environments into community engaging growing areas which could make a huge difference to the quality of life for many and help educate everyone about fresh produce and healthy eating.

My thanks to Canary Wharf Group and to our team for making it happen.   

Has the perception of allotments changed in the last few weeks?

There are many different perspectives of allotments, allotment folk and the value they provided to the community. Views will vary greatly, and some from outside may be far adrift from reality. The views of the value allotments give their plot holders will also differ by demographic and ethnic mix. But whatever the view held we must respect perception often trumps all.

Some views may be tainted by the length of waiting lists and in today’s instant gratification times, view allotments as elitist and plots unobtainable. Others may look through the gates and take the view that they often resemble a ramshackle shanty town. Others will look with envy at the fresh vegetables and jealously yearn for the good life. The perception will obviously vary significantly between rural and urban, suburban and inner-city sites. Some even see them as a sort of day care centre for the retired.

Over the years allotments have gone in and out of fashion. Often in times of hardship they attract attention, whilst in times of plenty and affluence they may lose that attraction.

As a result of the current Covid virus has perception of allotments changed?

One thing is very clear is that the profile of allotments and the benefits they offer has been raised. It may be increased column inches in the weekend broadsheets, or even the five-minute sound bite on TV but six months ago there would have been none.

Perhaps two things have helped to raise the profile. The first was the supermarket queues and the awakening that we as a society had become too dependent on the one stop shop, the perfect all year-round fresh food that knows no seasonality. When you start to add up the air miles and extended supply chains and things done to preserve freshness maybe you realise that there is fresh and there is fresh. The second profile raiser was the fact that allotments remained open all hours and even government ministers classed them as exercise. Later they were lauded as providing both mental well-being as well as physical exercise.

In areas of dense housing and where the shift from houses to flats often in the sky prevails, the loss of growing space or even meaningful open space is acute. Here in London’s Docklands we have the highest density of residential housing in Western Europe and everything new reaches into the sky in little boxes piled on top of each other. There is some open space but that is often managed by the estate to provide the lowest maintenance option and community gardening is rarely encouraged or provided.

It is ironic that allotments as we know them today are only some 100 to 150 years old. They were developed to provide, along with parks and libraries, a release from the industrial sprawl and to give householders a piece of land to grow on. Today the industrial sprawl has been replaced by concrete, glass and commercial and residential sprawl and yet we have less space than we did a 100 years ago or even 50 years ago. Some would suggest that we now have longer waiting lists and latent demand than at any time in the history of allotments.

I was once told by a Mayor of a borough that his colleagues were the problem and that they viewed allotments ‘as the lowest of the low.’ Well if there was ever a reason to change perception that was it.  Today even the hardest councils have had to keep allotments open and respect the benefits they give. Folk who thought gardening was something their parents and grandparents did have started to discover its many benefits and the closure of garden centres has in fact help raise awareness even further.

But perception must be changed and allotments have to continue to help that change happen. Allotments are integral to the community. They are environmental standard bearers, centres of both mental and physical well-being, educational stimulants, ethnic and social melting pots.

I often state to doubting eyes that only 28% of our plot holders are retired, only a minority are English origin and so on. These are small facts, but perception changes.

We do not judge the longest bean, the fattest leek, the straightest carrot. In fact, we celebrate the community outreach program we have and embrace environmental initiatives and projects.

Finally, I strongly believe that allotments do not stop at the fence and these physical barriers do not stop the allotments fully integrating into the community in many ways. Children may learn some basic gardening at school but where do we expect them to continue this after leaving school? Where do the disabled or long term sick go who are unable to physically manage a garden? How do we ensure social housing also has social gardening?

The city planners need to think holistically about the city-scapes they are responsible for developing and ensure that the various green and welfare needs highlighted by the current situation are not a lost opportunity. We can change not just perceptions but reality.   

Sharing and Swapping Plants and Seeds

Every now and again you come across someone who not only goes that extra mile but does it with a smile and performs it perfectly.

Our Seed Swap had to be cancelled due to the current virus, so seeds went into the boxes on the gates and were replenished on a regular basis. The seeds were as varied as any collection and anyone wanting to grow something different was given the opportunity to do so. Who says they can’t get seeds today?

This year we have our brand-new community greenhouse which primarily was to provide a consistent flow of plants to our remote allotment at the new Crossrail Station gardens at Canary Wharf. Whilst the stores were working normally it was fully kitted out with bags of compost, manure, seed trays etc Obviously, the Canary Wharf allotment is now subject to strict controls which we are working under with the Canary Wharf Group and whilst this goes on we have more plants ready that we now need to share among our plot holders.

I asked today just how many plants we were giving away to plot holders and was staggered when i was told about 400! Tomatoes, beetroot, mange tout, strawberries, kale, spring cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, raspberry canes etc. Some are already given away and on the plots, some ready today others will be available in the coming weeks. The quality is very good, and novices and experts can all benefit.

As Chair I am so proud of the work and dedication shown and the tremendous effort of what is a very small team who selflessly think of others before themselves. This year we are going to all enjoy a bumper harvest and maybe one or two things we never thought we would be growing!

Our Site Manager is in isolation for the lock down, but his plot like a number of others in a similar position has been dug over prepared, It will now be stocked with plants and even maintained by a buddy plot holder for when he returns. It is important that we work as a community and look after those who are restricted today and give them something to look forward to later this year.

Its uplifting to see the allotment community spirit and people thinking and looking after others.