Can you dig it?

Aug 8 2008 by Jane Hall, The Journal

Forget old chaps in flat caps putting the world to rights – allotments have become fashionable with new, younger and often female enthusiasts who want to grow their own. Ahead of National Allotment Week on August 11, Jane Hall looks at the renewed interest in homegrown harvests

COCOONED in the safety and warmth of your own home, Sunday mornings are all about relaxing with a steaming cup of strong coffee and the weekend papers.

On a sunny summer’s day you may feel inclined to move this weekly ritual out of the living room and into the back garden.

Claire Malone has a perfect Sabbath wake-me-up. But you won’t find her sitting on the patio of her home in Woodside, Gateshead, slowly emptying the cafeteria, with the newspapers and Sunday supplements spread out around her.

Instead the 36-year-old packs her flask, toast and reading matter into a basket and heads across the road with partner Chris Heath. Here the couple settle down surrounded by radishes, beetroot, carrots and herbs to while away an hour or two.

It’s been a pattern they have followed for the past five years – ever since they found themselves the proud guardians of an allotment.

Their 15m by 30m patch, high on the hill above Ryton, has become both vegetable plot and garden with its pear tree, neatly tended beds and patch of grass on which stands an outdoor table and chairs.

On occasions it even becomes home to a barbecue when Claire and Chris hold impromptu get-togethers with their green-fingered neighbours.

For Claire the £20-a-year peppercorn rent they pay to Gateshead Borough Council is money well spent. “I’m can’t believe how involved I have become with the allotment and how much I love it,” she enthuses. “Getting it has to be one of the best things Chris and I have done.

“It’s not just about growing your own fresh vegetables and fruit, but there’s the community spirit, the health benefits and knowing you’re doing your bit to help the environment.”

Claire, who works for Ethical- superstore, the Newcastle-based green online shopping site, admits owning an allotment was once the furthest thing from her mind.

Traditionally they are seen as the preserve of male pensioners in flat caps who, cup of tea and roll-up cigarette in hand, spend their time putting the world to rights in between weeding, hoeing and thinning.

“There is an old man image undoubtedly,” Claire says. “The guy who is at the allotment all day every day, who can only spend that much time there because he is retired and has nothing better to do.”

But the face of the traditional allotment is changing – and Claire and Chris are at the forefront of a revolution currently sweeping community vegetable patches across the land.

The old men still exist but, like many of the vegetables they grow that were once fashionable, they have been superseded.

The humble allotment, originally created as a means of subsidy for poorly-paid workers in the 18th Century, has gone middle class.

These days the natives, skinny latte in hand, are more likely to be talking over the fence about house prices, extolling the virtues of biodiversity and discussing the pros and cons of disposable over environmentally- friendly reusable nappies.

The new breed of enthusiast is younger, probably female and bringing children along to help out. Claire says her initial interest in owning an allotment was sparked by sitting in her living room and watching the comings and goings at the plots over the lane from her terraced house.

“I would see young couples and women with young children. The older generation is still there, but it’s not the stereotypical flat-cap brigade trying to get away from the wife.

“I thought, ‘Yes, I’d like to be a part of that’.”

Claire claims not to be green- fingered and to have had little or no interest in growing her own until she and Chris moved to Woodside.

“When I was growing up, my grandparents had a fantastic garden where they grew all their vegetables and fruit. But I never really got into all that or was particularly interested.

“Now I couldn’t imagine life without my allotment.”

Claire and Chris were on the waiting list for theirs for a year – a short time compared to some areas of the UK. In places like London, such lists are as bloated as those for the most eligible public schools.

A spokesman for the National Society of Allotments and Leisure Gardeners says they are hearing of many waiting lists exceeding the total provision. “Where there are 100 allotments, there could easily be another 100 plus on the waiting list. Some allotment providers are offering smaller plots to starters to try to cope with this demand, but still finding waiting lists are growing.”

It’s easy to see why. Owning an allotment combines today’s twin obsessions of keeping fit and getting your five a day. And with the credit crunch biting, for those lucky enough to be able to grow their own, the summer and autumn glut could provide a nice earner on the side as well as put food on the plate.

A medium-sized site could produce over two tonnes of cabbages a year, while a standard 250sq m patch can keep the average family supplied with vegetables all year round, significantly cutting grocery bills.

Claire and Chris grow everything from salad leaves to tomatoes, strawberries, radishes, carrots, garlic, onions, beetroot, rhubarb and scores of herbs, all of which find their way into their cooking.

They have forsaken potatoes this year, however, after a disastrous crop in 2007, which Claire blames on a combination of excessively wet weather and blight. In line with their green principles, the couple refuse to use pesticides.

Neither are they growing beans. “Last year we had so many we couldn’t eat them all, let alone give them away, so we have decided to give beans a miss,” Claire explains. “We still have plenty of other vegetables though.

“Having an allotment is hard work, but I actually find it very relaxing. Just being outside in the fresh air is very satisfying, and knowing you are growing something that you are going to be able to eat is a wonderful feeling.

“The vegetables are tastier and I feel we are both better off, healthwise and financially. Apart from walking the dog, I wasn’t into the outdoors particularly, so having the allotment has increased my fitness.

“It’s not just about the vegetables, though, it is the whole process and the freedom that having an allotment gives you. I would be devastated if we had to give it up.

“If I didn’t work I would love to get another allotment. I would recommend an allotment to anyone. If you have the chance to get one, go for it.”