Allotment Sustainability - Too much or too little produce

 

In today’s environmentally conscious world we have to ask how sustainable is the site? With over 40,000 plots and some 741 sites in London and some 300,000 plots across the UK the ability for allotments to raise the bar on environment is very real. This is one of a series of opportunities to be covered over the coming days and hope that in doing so we stimulate discussion and maybe even action.

6.    Too much or too little?

What do you do with the excess produce?

The highlights of the paper, ‘Feeding a city – Leicester as a case study of the importance of allotments for horticultural production in the UK’, published by Elsevier in their Science Direct Journal in 2019, highlighted among other findings that:

•         Urban agriculture provides important ecosystem services to people living in cities.
•          Allotment gardening in 1.5% land within a city provides fresh produce for 3% of population.
•          Crop yields achieved by own-growers were similar to commercial crop yields.

Today we have food banks and soup kitchens in many towns and cities and the pandemic has heightened the need for all of us to share with those in need and provide food and meals in the community. 

Many allotments are giving their extra produce to these community initiatives, but it’s not easy. Fresh food does not come out of a tap you merely turn and out it pops. It often comes in waves and can be unpredictable, with one-week famine the next feast. Also, fresh food  can quickly deteriorate if not use at the right time and Lacks that magic ingredient that extends supermarket shelf life. Finally, what is grown on allotments today is not always what those in need want or in some case know what to do with it.

Against this social need we all see pictures daily, rightly boasting of the size of the vegetables and amount of produce harvested on the allotments. Daily we hear requests asking what to do with too many plums, courgettes, squash, beans, tomatoes etc. Do you store, or do you share?

Is the size of some plots more than today's smaller sized families can consume?

When the allotment sizes were enshrined in statute families were larger, family groups lived in closer proximity and the distance commute and work relocation as we know it today was significantly smaller. Should the rural size be reduced as it has in many urban and inner cities and would this itself reduce the volumes of produce grown to feed a single family?

Is the glut merely the result of issues further up the chain?

This time of year, seed catalogues drop through the letterbox at an alarming rate. All are brimming over with promotional offers and stuffed with pages and pages of seeds. Comparing one catalogue to another can be like comparing margarine to butter, you may spot the difference, but does it really matter? This mass marketing of seeds and plug plants wets the appetite and before you know it you are in receipt of a jiffy bag full of packets of seeds. Hands up who only buy what they need and rarely have any hidden stashes of unused seeds, which may get used, but are often replaced with new ones?

In essence we buy more than we sow, we sow more than we nurture and develop, and we harvest in some cases more than we need. So can we change this wasteful process or are we destined to grow too much in our own little bubbles?

Group purchasing of seeds makes sense both in the scale and economics and can also in help share experiments of produce one may not normally grow. One problem is that many have their favourite suppliers, and some may like Dobies, whilst others like Kings, or Thompson and Morgan and the other plots likes Browns etc. Seed swaps help and every site could hold a swap and encourage excess seeds to be swapped. It is amazing to see just how many seeds surface at a seed swap and we must remember, these were all bought with the intent to grow. If planned, excess seeds can not only be shared with other plot holders but also be donated to community projects, schools, care homes etc. This reduces their costs to all and encourages all to grow.

Do you swap your seeds?

Do you buy as individuals or collectively?

Does your site have a collective seed swap?

Seedlings come next and we all have excess plants. We must often sow two to ensure we have one plant that is the nature of growing. However, what do we do with the excess, those seedlings, or young plants we don’t need?

Again, about a month after our seed swap we have a plant swap and its amazing to watch plants get a second chance, get adopted and literally walk out the door. This exercise is not just one weekend but continues with plant boxes by the gates where excess plants can be donated and pick up by others.       Some of my best plants have come from others this way and again it reduces waste and plants that would have merely ended up in the compost bins.

This year our site grew some 400 plants to give away. Some went to our community allotment at Canary Wharf Rooftop garden, some to plot holders some to the community. Many folk who had sowings had failed or who were unable to sow or due to the pandemic or to get compost to sow, found our plant swap and giveaway a saviour.

Excess produce donations are a challenge. Collecting them, getting it to the right group in time and ensuring it was what they wanted is not easy. As individuals we can all do something, as allotments we can do a lot more and as communities of allotments we can make a huge difference to ensure the consistency of availability and quantity of excess produce.

So what advice do give someone who asks what they can do with their glut?

Allotment Sustainability - Chemicals

 

In today’s environmentally conscious world we have to ask how sustainable is the site? With over 40,000 plots and some 741 sites in London and some 300,000 plots across the UK the ability for allotments to raise the bar on environment is very real. This is of a series of opportunities to be covered over the coming days and hope that in doing so we stimulate discussion and maybe even action.

5. Chemicals

I am always amazed at the shelves of garden centres and the vast array of containers of potions to treat this, enrich that and stop that. Pictures of slugs, ants, aphids adorn the containers in technicolour on containers all claiming to kill better than their rivals. Containers of undiluted feed, powders or granules address, enrich all from making your grass greener to making you tomatoes taste sweeter and more productive. What did we do before these chemical companies targeted the consumer market with fear of failure?

Gardeners have always had their special brews and bags of Epsom salts, lime, bone meal. I remember my grandad had his tub of stinky comfrey soup he swore by and used to make me hold the can as he stained some off, not a good experience to inspire a young gardener. He also had brown paper bags and tins of stuff with handwritten signage and an array of spoons for measuring it out. I do remember he did buy Growmore when it came out and went around like a farmer sowing seeds as he scattered the granules on his beds. He mixed his own concoctions and had a brass pump spray to deal with aphids and other undesirables and his knife dealt with any slugs brave enough to venture into his eyesight.   

Today we also can buy nematodes, living soldiers, to fight slugs and practically all other undesirables. Mix in water and apply to the soil and the creatures come to life and go on the rampage killing your enemy for you. The challenge is that these warriors only have a short shelf life and after a few weeks you have to buy more and probably end up spending more on nematodes than the value of the produce you are trying to protect.

Organic is the way forward comes the cry but what is urban myth and what is effective? Take slugs. Do you use used coffee grounds, a beer trap, broken egg shells, nutshells, seaweed, a grapefruit trap, petroleum jelly, sheep wool fibre pellets, copper tape or filings or slug repellent plants?

Those old blue slug pellets containing metaldehyde have been banned from sale from 1^st April 2021 and outdoor use from 2022. How many sites have proactively banned or decided on a animosity period to hand them in and ban their use today? The pellets not only kill slugs but also poison birds and hedgehogs and others who eat them. You can now only buy pellets containing ferric phosphate. This may be less harmful and any uneaten pellets will eventually break down into phosphate and iron which will then be taken up as nutrients by surrounding plants. However, there remains the problem of the other ingredients in the tablets - known as chelators. These chemicals help bond the iron molecules and make them more toxic to the molluscs. Unfortunately, these chemicals also affect earthworms. 

Then the other problem we all face is weeds and we have products such as Roundup and Weedol which contains glyphosate. These herbicides may also contain a toxic mix and other chemicals such as arsenic, chromium, cobalt, lead and nickel. However, glyphosate is the most widely and heavily used agrichemical worldwide, in agriculture, parks and amenities as well as in gardens and allotments. The European Food Safety Independent research indicates that glyphosate is safe. But this is highly contested and many others point to the long term impact on humans (over 60% of wholemeal bread contains traces of glyphosate, according to the Soil Association). The actual verdict may be out on glyphosate but do you take action now or wait till there is a definite answer?

There are many alternative options to chemical herbicides but these may involve a lot of hard work so to many it is a question of convenience over work, to others it is chemical uncertainty versus the spade.

Today we have to turn the container over and read its components but unlike food it is not easy to spot those which may be harmful to others who live on the plot and long term ourselves. Should individuals, sites or authorities take the lead on what should be used and what should be banned and will sites enforce it?

There is a massive difference in size and scope between farms and agricultural usage and the allotment but should farming economics lead the way on the use of chemicals or should allotments opt for a safe and sustainable plot?

Is it about waiting for certain products and ingredients to be banned or about proactively saying no?

Allotment Sustainability - Compost and Soil

 

In today’s environmentally conscious world we have to ask how sustainable is the site? With over 40,000 plots and some 741 sites in London and some 300,000 plots across the UK the ability for allotments to raise the bar on environment is very real. This is one of series of opportunities to be covered over the coming days and hope that in doing so we stimulate discussion and maybe even action.

4.       Compost and Soil

Do you and the rest of your site compost all green waste?

Do you create leaf mould?

Do you mulch crops?

Does every plot have compost bins on each plot, and are holfers trained on how to use them?

Do you buy compost which includes peat?

Do you have a wormery?

Soil and compost are the basic ingredient to any allotment from sowing crops to achieving a bountiful harvest. We may have heavy clay soil, chalk soil, sandy soil, but we all want to grow successfully and often the key is down to soil improvement. Some create raised beds where they in effect create the ideal mix, others add material to compensate for what they have. Achieving the right soil mix is not luck and takes constant work. Also, we take nutrients out when we grow and harvest and these need to be replaced. Fertilizers alone do not make a good soil, they are just one aspect of the equation.

Why do some plot holders not compost green waste and create their own compost and nutrient rich additive? This is a question only they can answer.  Some may say it’s too much trouble and easier to burn or bag and dump and effectively send to landfill. Others may say seed heads and weeds prevent it being composted. The reality is that almost all green matter can be composted and some household material too. It is a matter of knowing how long and creating a living environment for the underworld of creatures to transform and break down waste and create compost.

Basic compost bins don’t cost much and can also be easily be made with old pallets and are even often available from the local authority at a very reasonable cost. There are more expensive bins that turn the compost with little effort and hot bins that ensure the living environment is right for alchemy.

Compost can be used all over the plot and mixed to provide the right nutrients, fibre and living matter to support and enrich all soils. It can make light sandy soil bulkier and help breakdown heavy clay soil. But many will still rush to their local DIY store to buy multi-use compost by the bag load instead. Maybe they need the extra quantity or something more constant in the mix but it comes at a huge price.

Those sacks of compost which offer a good deal (3 x 60 ltr bags for £10) often have high percentage of peat in them. Yes, peat is being gradually reduced and sometimes they can be misleading in their claims but peat extraction and its removal from the wetlands, bogs etc has a major impact on the environment. Even some of the more expensive compost contains peat and it’s time to say, ‘no thank you.’

Coir is heralded as the next best thing to peat but is this true and if we all suddenly went coir would the impact be similar to palm oil and soya?

The question is whether our grandparents had access to coir or peat or did they merely compost and make their own?

I always remember my grandad kept a bucket and shovel handy and at the sight of a horse and cart was out shovelling up the muck he called ‘gardener’s gold’. Today we don’t have the same traffic and even collecting from a stable has changed. Yesterday’s straw has been replaced by wood chippings which break down into a kind of sand. The nutrients are still there but the mix consistency has changed. Also you need to be sure what chemicals have been administered to the livestock and ensure it is well rotted before use.

Our Chinese and Vietnamese plot holders buy chicken manure collectively in bulk. it must work given their crops, but frankly it stinks when applied.

Today we are trying to negotiate with the local Council to supply every plot with a compost bin and wormery which we will assign as part of the plot’s inventory. Sounds simple and an easy model to adopt and support, but even this takes time to achieve.

Allotment Sustainability - Wildlife

 

In today’s environmentally conscious world we have to ask how sustainable is the site? With over 40,000 plots and some 741 sites in London and some 300,000 plots across the UK the ability for allotments to raise the bar on environment is very real. This is one of a series of opportunities to be covered over the coming days and hope that in doing so we stimulate discussion and maybe even action.

3.    Wildlife

Do you and the rest of your site proactively encourage wildlife on the plots?

We often take those creatures that may share our land for granted. We expect bees, butterflies, moths, hoverflies, ladybirds always to be there. We may expect squirrels and other not so welcome guests such as rats and mice and not realise that they are around until they strike. Many other wanted guests such as, hedgehogs, frogs, toads, newts may visit or reside alongside us but are rarely seen. We may have foxes and even badgers and all this without the numerous varieties of birds and even bats. The varieties of wildlife that could visit or reside on site are significant.

The wildlife on the plots will vary by location and surrounding natural habitat and even if the conditions are ideal that doesn’t mean their presence is. Urban and inner city sites could expect to have a different wildlife profile to rural sites, but it is surprising how adaptable our little friends are and how far they will travel to find a home and feast out on the allotments.

Bees are threatened by many factors; reduction of habitat and fauna, chemicals and pollution and today Honey Bees and Social bees are under a real threat from their own deadly virus called Chronic Bee Paralysis Virus (CBPV).  There are some 250 bee varieties in the UK of which only some 10% are social bees and of that not all are ‘farmed’ and managed directly by humans. The remaining 90% are solitary bees which in the main don’t sting and are greater pollinators. So can we do a lot to encourage more bees? We can obviously have hives, but also install bee houses to encourage solitary bees. Many bees live in the banks, undergrowth, old tree stumps and even underground. Of course having their favourite plants on site helps and I grow lots of sun flowers, I leave rocket other plants such as broccoli to go to  seed and again the bees love the flowers and as for borage and comfrey the plants are a magnet for all bees.

I love to be picking some spinach or dense leaved plant and find a frog or toad staring up at me like a rabbit caught in the headlights before they hop off. I have no pond on the plot and the water tanks are too high to offer a home to them unless they have learnt the art of pole vaulting. I do remember when I cleared part of the plot that I discovered that there had once been a concrete pond. Maybe it was their ancestral home. Perhaps we should all designate a communal pond area and encourage these friends.

Hedgehogs are in decline especially in urban areas but are a godsend if you are fortunate to have them. Their nocturnal scavenging can be messy. i always remember finding one with a small yogurt pot stuck on its head and it was very relieved when it was released. Hedgehog sanctuaries can help establish them and they love to live in a good compost pile. however. how many sites have already banned the use of metaldehyde (the blue slug pellets) which will be banned from sale from April next year and from outdoor use the following year? These pellets kill hedgehogs.

There is then the natural battle between man and aphids, be they white, green red or black. Where tg hey appear from is a mystery but their ability to colonise broad beans, or most beans, is a given. Ants may eat them but they also entrap them into being their sugar slaves positioning them, and when they have become full of sugar, devour them. Ladybirds just devour aphids, but the numbers of ladybirds have dropped and what was a common sight is becoming rarer. We must encourage them.

There are many more friends and probably the favourite is the worm. There are so many different varieties some common some rare, some friends others harmful but the friends we find on the plots  convert organic matter into much richer humus than it would be otherwise by pulling leaves and other plant materials down into the soil. Once in its larder, the worm will shred the material, eating some and leaving the rest to rot under the surface. Look in a healthy compost bin and you’ll find worms. Better still, create a wormery.

What about the birds you may ask? We need to encourage these too. Some are digging buddies like the faithful Robin who watches over the soil being turned. The other songbirds who make up the dawn chorus can be happy with a bird bath and a few seeds. The occasional small nest box helps too.

Then there are the voles, moles, foxes, rats, squirrels, crows, magpies and pigeons you may often have to accept that sometimes others share the plot too. After all, you can’t pick your neighbours. We leave slugs and snails as an exception we can live without.

So what are you and your site doing to encourage the wildlife and the balance of its biodiversity? 

Allotment Sustainability - Recycling

 

In today’s environmentally conscious world we have to ask how sustainable is the site? With over 40,000 plots and some 741 sites in London and some 300,000 plots across the UK the ability for allotments to raise the bar on environment is very real. This is one of a series of opportunities to be covered over the coming days and hope that in doing so we stimulate discussion and maybe even action.

2.            Recycling

Present a plot holder with a stack of pallets and you may well return to find a shed, raised beds and even a bench all crafted out of them. Barry Bucknell would be proud of the DIY craze he started some 60 years ago.

Allotments have always encouraged and stimulated the inner salvage hunter and builder in plot holders. Many would rather have a hand-crafted greenhouse or shed than spend hundreds on a fancy new one. Others will search the adverts for unwanted greenhouses, sheds and boards. This recycling isn’t restricted to timber but includes pots, netting, cable and water pipes and conduit, scaffold planks and many things throw into nearby skips find their way to the allotments. Some near allotments simply put out their unwanted stuff, and before the binmen arrive, it’s gone. You can often look inside or behind some sheds and wonder if Steptoe and Son has a plot on the site, minus Hercules the horse of course.

Recycling does not stop there. We have bags of used coffee grounds and eight-foot bamboo canes delivered from our sponsors at Canary Wharf. A neighbour often seeks me out to give me his latest used big water vending machine bottles. I have not the heart to tell him I have enough, so my neighbours are now starting their own collections and I pass them along.

Our trading shed was an old shipping container and rusting and leaking and unusable, unable to be moved or scraped without a crane to lift it over the fence. It would cost more to get rid of than reclaim. So, we reclaimed it, relined it, re roofed it insulated it, gave it new external wall, even installed a new floor and made new doors. Today it is weatherproof, soundproof and a brand-new trading shed. A tribute to recycling. It typifies the allotment attitude to make things work and to reuse what others would dispose of.

When my greenhouse was decimated by the gales, I rebuilt it with timbers from the farm, what could be salvaged from the old one and an end section someone kindly gave me as surplus. Today it stands more robust than ever and ready for any gale.

The site used to have a skip twice a year, which was filled as quickly as it was dropped. What was dumped in it was often more green waste than bulk un-compostable material waste. So, we stopped hiring the skips, and yes some have complained, but the rubbish still disappears, and household rubbish goes home and old timbers can be added to the farm’s burning. Why should all plot holders subsidise the throwaway nature or bad housekeeping of a few?

What is interesting is when someone leaves. Previously, the shed was picked over by plotholders even before anyone was formally told. Now as soon as notice is given an inventory is taken and anything worthy goes to the trading shed. The amount of old stuff in some sheds is more than in a garden store. Why folk need multiple containers of the same stuff and more trowels and tools than an army would need beggar’s belief.

The challenge on recycling is not the collecting of stuff to recycle but the using of it to avoid building a collection of rotting timbers and associated junk. After all there are only so many rainy days you can collect for.

I think all allotments must pass the recycle sustainability test.

Allotment Sustainability - Water

In today’s environmentally conscious world we have to ask how sustainable is the site? With over 40,000 plots and some 741 sites in London and some 300,000 plots across the UK, the ability for allotments to raise the bar on environment is very real. This is the first of a series of opportunities we aim to cover over the coming days and hope that in doing so we stimulate discussion and maybe even action.

1.       Water

On your site, how many sheds collect rainwater?

Does your site ban use of hosepipes?

Does your site even have access to mains water?

It is somewhat embarrassing to admit that less than 50% of our site collect rainwater off the sheds. There are many reasons given for this, from the cost of guttering and butts to the point that they simply don’t collect enough. However, if each shed could collect rainwater it may not negate mains wate,r but it would go a long way to reduce the demand on the mains. Some even argue pointing to others, ‘if they don’t collect their water, why should I?’

At our site hosepipes are banned on the basis that they promote high water usage and it’s too easy to sit back and sprinkle everything or quietly leave them turned on to water or flood a patch. We have limited taps to which hoses can be attached and those are only available for those who need fresh water to take pills etc and the majority of folk would require long hosepipes to connect to these.

Irrigation systems attached to hoses and butts make sense and drip feed at the place the plants need it. However, the water butts need to be rain water fed and not mains fed. These systems are expensive and need to be managed.

We also have a strong and diverse ethnic mix of plot holders and some simply don’t water their plots our traditional way with watering cans but their traditional way with large 10 litre used paint buckets which results in the water tank quickly emptying, and the plot can soon resemble a paddy field. This practice is not uncommon, and I have seen on other sites, but it can be very inefficient and wasteful.

So just how much water is required to maintain a plot and produce the expected crop?

This is dependant on location, soil, crop and of course weather and the one thing that is certain is the unpredictability of the weather and the demands made by some crops. Is mulching a common practice? Is the soil moisture retentive? Is the location on a slope? Do raised beds demand more water?

Those who don’t have mains water and have to bring their water in containers to their plots will respect that water used more and say that the plot absorbs a lot of water and appreciate every bit has to be taken there. However, those with easy access to mains water may take water for granted and even think about pouring some 15 watering cans on their plot every day in summer.

The cost of water is often universally applied so irrespective of plot size, or whether you collect rainwater, or how much you use the cost is shared by all. Water is itemised separately within our site’s rent invoices and this allows us to vary it if costs or usage rises without it affecting our other income. Each plot pays £10 per year for water or just under 20p a week.

So how do we promote, educate and get plot holders to use less or at least less mains water?

Some would suggest varying the costs by size of plot, others in giving a discount to those who collect rainwater. Some suggest reducing the pressure sufficient to impact the speed the tanks refill but those at the end of the run might then never get any but pay the same as those at the beginning of the run. Some say raise the cost, so it becomes clearer but even doubling today’s cost still is relatively cheap.

The allotment water solution is not down to one silver bullet but in understanding the site and usage, education and getting all sheds to collect rainwater efficiently. Perhaps we should consider finding a sponsor to help pay for butts and guttering throughout the site and in our case reducing the number of tanks.

Rooftop Allotments: The Answer to Urban Space?

Space is often difficult to find and even more difficult to convert into allotments. The denser the housing and closer it is to the inner city the harder it gets as all compete for what land there is. In rural areas we often find the opposite and there is land but maybe not always where it is required.

We hear about space which could be made into more plots but the council are reluctant to spend the cash to do it. We hear about other councils sitting on unspent CIL reserves whilst land and allotment demand exists. The one thing that is clear is that allotment land opportunities are shrinking.

We wrote recently about the opportunity to convert some abandoned railway land in West London. The plot may be small but the community benefits aren’t. We are trying to galvanise the community to go for a disused railway viaduct in the heart of the East End of London and in doing so create an iconic ‘grow line’ for all.

However, much of today’s focus is on the traditional ground level where space is tight, and some would suggest that there is much more space available up on the roof and down under the ground. So, perhaps we should apply some lateral or even ‘vertical’ thinking to expanding our allotments?

Up on the roof…

Roof gardens and farms are not new or difficult to establish but do need vision and commitment. As this government starts to tear up some of the planning restrictions in favour of a ‘easier’ and less bureaucratic system and process do we have the opportunity to redefine community infrastructure needs, especially on those developments which contribute 106 /CIL monies?   

But let’s look at some commercial examples of farming in the air.

New York has Brooklyn Grange which claims to be the largest urban rooftop farm in the world serving the local community with fresh organic produce. Over two acres of rooftop produces over 40,000 lbs of vegetables and even has chickens and a productive apiary. New York also has Greenpoint and Gotham Greens, Eagle Street Rooftop Farm and that’s without that iconic world leading High Line on its West side.

In Holland there are Dakakker in Rotterdam and Zuidpark in Amsterdam. Japan has City Farm in Tokyo which itself challenges designers in that it grows many wet crops such as rice. Canada has Lufa Farms in Montreal which has a 31,000 square foot greenhouse to survive those Canadian winters. Eastdale Collegiate Institute roof in Toronto opens onto Toronto’s skyline, high above the neighbourhood’s surrounding buildings. The farm is a collaborative project between the Toronto District School Board and FoodShare Toronto, which is a social program promoting urban agriculture and food literacy among students.

In Hong Kon, HK Farm may be small but competes in one of the most densely populated cities in the world.

In Denmark ØsterGRO is somewhat different and is inspired by the concept Community Supported Agriculture. It is run by the three employees, its member families and volunteers. It has been established with support from the Copenhagen Municipality, is self-sustainable and financed through revenue educational activities and membership fees from the families involved. Some 13,000 visitors a year learn about food waste and sustainable food production as well as contribute income. Below the raised flower and vegetable beds, there is a 350 m2 water reservoir where rainfall is collected for the irrigation of plants during the growing season.

In China Sunqiao district in Shanghai focuses on integrating vertical farms and research. The majority of Shanghai’s inhabitants’ diet consists of leaf vegetables, making hydroponic and aquaponic systems appropriate and lending themselves to growing crops such spinach, lettuce, kale and watercress which don’t require specific care, grow quickly and weigh very little. The district features floating greenhouses, green walls and vertical facades for seed collection.

In Paris and under construction in the south-west of the city is approximately 14,000 sq metres and the largest urban farm in Europe. It plans to grow more than 30 different plants, produce around 1,000kg of fruit and vegetables every day in high season and will be maintained by some 20 gardeners. It will be located on the top of a major exhibition complex and will be run by Paris’s renowned chain of rooftop venues, Le Perchoir. This aerial eatery will offer panoramic views over the capital.

So what does the UK offer on our roofs? What are we doing to bring fresh right into the heart of our cities? How are we looking to involve communities and seek opportunities to fill that allotment shortfall and growing demand?

We have the Underground.

We have vegetables and salads being successfully farmed underground in London in a hydroponics farm below the streets of southwest London. Founders Richard Ballard and Steven Dring have been selling micro-herbs and baby greens to restaurants and markets since 2015. Importantly it can only be achieved on quick growing salad plants and clearly is not a model for the wider community today.

In London’s East End we are fortunate to have one of our Society’s allotment plots within the award-winning Canary Wharf Crossrail Rooftop garden. Surely planners and developers must be stretched and 106/CIL monies used to create new community spaces in the sky and covert disused railway viaducts into exciting ‘grow lines’?

Perhaps it’s time we all started to think vertical. 

For Peat's Sake Part 3: Can We Make a Difference Today?

Having looked at the ecological and environment impact of peat excavation for horticulture and how peat being used today in gardens and allotments and the alternatives, we must ask what we can do to effect change?

Today we extract some 700,000 tonnes or 22cm of peat a year which is only being renewed at the rate of 1mm a year. This is not a sustainable model which impacts on Climate Change by removing a vital natural resource.

Some will always be driven by convenience, price and quality. Others who wish to radically reduce our current wholesale excavation of peat reserves and deal with Climate Change issues will view peat as the issue to be addressed. The true cost is not the price paid at the till, but the cost paid by the depletion of a valuable natural reserve and the supply chains that support its transportation.

Some may feel that the problem is solved and change has happened but You only need to look around the allotments, stores and ask others to realise it is still an issue today.

How can we move more effectively and quicker towards a peat free environment?

I have taken a radical look at some of the opportunities.

Central Government and its associated regulatory bodies:

Regulation is unlikely to be introduced today and the favoured route on many such matters appears to be self-regulation against somewhat arbitrary future targets. This has not worked to date and is hard to see working moving forward. The commercial lobby is far stronger than the consumer one today.

Taxation, tariffs and financial incentives. These work two ways in that you can give financial incentives to commercial bodies to quit or you tax them, or the system that supports them to force change. An example of the latter would be the action taken on tobacco where the price was raised via taxation to make the consumer stop or cut down.

This could be highly effective as the price of peat-based compost is significantly cheaper than alternative peat-free offers. If a bag of peat-based compost were suddenly raised from say £5 to £20, fewer bags would be bought, and retailers would soon apply pressure on or change their suppliers.

Equally if all peat imports had a tariff applied to them which raised the cost by 20% then there would be a significant economic shift on imported peat from Ireland and the Baltic states. However, even in this post Brexit world this may be a bridge too far.

Government bodies such as DEFRA could impose tighter advertising and labelling of products where the element of peat is used. Instead of the peat and ingredient mix being on the back of the bag it could be in your face on the front with a special 100% peat free standard logo. This could be coupled with further information that had to be included on all packaging on peat and climate change. Again this would be similar to that used on tobacco products. Today many still do not state what the ingredients of the mix is.

The one thing all political parties want to project today is their ‘green’ credentials and moving words into actions is the challenge.

Local Government and associated bodies:

Some may think that Local government would be too fragmented to make a difference, but others will see that this is where many actions could be initiated and if copied by others create real momentum for change.

We should bear in mind that not only do Councils control, they also have a strong influence over our allotments, housing associations, civic gardens, parks and in addition manage waste, environment, planning and housing. Why this holistic perspective is important? Local Government can effectively make their areas peat free through their own buying, influence, and planning. What one council does may be quickly followed by others.

Again, councils are keen to project their ‘green’ credentials and are often more accessible than Westminster.

Better distribution of council recycled waste could reduce all our dependence on buying many materials such as leaf mould, bark chippings, shredded wood and shavings and much more.

They could ensure that all allotment plots within their area have a compost bin and wormery and provide food bins to transport household waste to the allotment. This coupled with an information and education programme could easily start to encourage allotments to adopt composting. They could also ban bonfires which again encourages composting. Finally, they could promote environmental awards for community, school and allotment growing initiatives focused on issues such as peat free.

Take a London Borough and make it happen, publicise it and soon other Boroughs will be following, and allotments may be the community hub to best organise this approach.

Allotments, Allotment Federations, National Society, and its Regions

The organisational structures exist today to focus on issues and co ordinate a programme of activity.

London has some 750 allotment sites and around 40,000 plots and the UK has some 300,000 plots. These may not all belong to the National Society and many just want to quietly manage their plots, but the overall size is significant. The National Society has the internal educational and influence and the community outreach potential at national, regional, and local levels.

Environmental and community awards and merits could create greater awareness and recognise individual initiatives and could have a focus on specific issues such as peat free allotments and community education.  

The National Society should also can influence and lobby central and local government, retailers, and suppliers at many levels.

Individuals

Many allotment plot holders and gardeners have already switched to peat free but many more remain wedded to convenience, cost and quality.

As individuals we still have the ability to raise FOI (Freedom of Information) requests to our local authorities and government bodies and ask what actions they are taking, how much peat are they buying directly and indirectly, what is their strategy re peat and much more. FOIs have the ability to raise politician’s awareness to issues that they may otherwise brush to one side. It also can provide facts which otherwise would remain unknown.

As individuals we can ask if its peat free every time. If its not labelled and doesn’t state what the mix is, put it down and tell the retailer it is unclear what is in the bag.

Letters to press and media also act to remind them that an issue is real and one good press article can open many doors.

Social media is everyone’s channel and the more noise created the more people become aware and the better the opportunity to galvanise support. Retailers and suppliers soon sit up if they feel the wind of change is upon them.

We can’t all assume we know all the facts or that we have the answers but we can share what we know, raise awareness and maybe initiate actions that stop the exploitation of one of our most valuable natural resources – Peatlands.

For Peat’s Sake: Part 1

For Peat’s Sake: Part 2

Reflections on the Environmental Changes of Lockdown

Sitting on the allotment bench looking over the plot you realise how things have changed over the last few weeks. I am not talking about the virus and lockdown but the often unseen and unreported impact it has had and continues to have on our environment, living and time.

When Lottie and I walk along the bank of the Thames to the allotments the river looks still and peaceful and has a clarity which we never see normally. No, you can’t see to the bottom - the strong tides see to that and stir up the sediment on the river bed. However, it is clearer and obviously does not have the heavy and constant river traffic churning up the silt, nor the river pleasure boats throbbing out the latest dance as they rock up and down the river each evening.

The wooded path across to the allotment is laden with overgrown wildflowers, brambles and feisty nettles. The squirrels are everywhere and teasing Lottie on her walk. The trees create a canopy of shade and the path floor has carpet of fallen seeds. You could be in any woods in the deepest countryside not cheek to jowl with Canary Wharf.

On the allotment bench Lottie shifts her position, stretches, and gently places one of her front paws on my lap. That is to make sure I remain, and she can continue to nap knowing where I am.

It’s so peaceful today you can even hear the pine cones cracking open overhead in the sun, the chorus of birds singing, and yet we are less than a mile away from Canary Wharf and the new heart of the East End of London and densest residential housing in Western Europe. The Mudchute is a haven, a respite, an oasis in the bustling rejuvenated Docklands of London. Yet today the constant hum of cars is gone or is subdued, the sky is almost free from vapour trails and the sounds of City airport have temporary ceased. Even the farm in its lockdown is now deserted of children and visitors.

Earlier this week the gentle breeze brought us a sky full of seeds floating over the allotments from their parent plants and in search of a safe landing place. It almost looked like snow as the fluffy seed parachutes were carried in the wind and I found myself sneezing with the high pollen count. I wanted to shout out, ‘Don’t worry it’s hay fever not the virus!’ But who would have heard me? A day later the seeds were gone and no doubt the next time I’ll see them they will be young weed seedlings sprouting up and begging to be weeded out of the plot.

Yesterday was strange. In the morning there was real heat in the early morning sun. You realised it was going to be hot and the plot needed an early drink to help it through the day. The greenhouse already resembled a sauna and the door was wedged open much to the relief of all inside. I merely moved out the Sweet Corn and found sweat pouring across my face and trickling down my back. It was clearly time to go home and Lottie panting, agreed.

Late in the afternoon we returned to rehydrate the plot and bring the Sweet Corn back in.

Sitting on the bench contemplating life as Lottie and I do, I sensed a change, something different. At first I could not put my finger on it but then I realised what it was. The air was clean and with the bright sunshine you had that light intensity you don’t normally have, or ever see in London. As a painter you appreciate the light intensity you get in places like the Mediterranean but to see that sharpness of contrast and clarity in London, we must have lost a lot of air pollution! Perhaps I should put the jigsaw and books to one side and do some painting in London while it lasts.

Today I planted out the Sweet Corn and as I put my hands into the soil it was warm, or should I say a lot warmer than normal. Perhaps I don’t normally notice it, perhaps it is no different, but I sensed that the plants would enjoy their nice new warm surroundings and a cool drink. It makes you realise that the science of ground heat source probably has more to it than a few Grand Design buildings.

How long will this new environment last? China has returned to smog and it would appear inevitable that we will return to our noise, air and general pollution levels, but today at least we can enjoy what we have.