The famous World War II ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign encouraged British people to get around food shortages by growing their own. It was so successful, parks and bomb sites were ripped up and turned into vegetable patches. In the late 1940s there were an estimated 1.4 million allotment sites in the UK.
Yet being forced to grow their own food turned many of the post-war generation off allotments. From the late 1960s onwards, frozen food and ready meals became the norm, and Britons fell out of love with allotments.
That meant many councils sold off allotments during the 1980s and 1990s as people simply didn’t want them. The total number across Britain is now estimated at around 300,000.
Recession times
Happily, recent years have a seen a massive increase in their popularity. Increased interest in sustainability and fears of climate change have been key factors in this increase. Add in the financial collaspe of 2008 and the demand to be self-sustaining grows. Sales of grow your own vegetable plants has been steadily rising since the start of the recession in 2008. Something that also happened during the previous two recessions.
They are especially important for people without much garden space or the two million Britons living in flats and apartments without a garden.
Now there are often long waiting lists for an allotment. Getting ahold of one can be like finding the goose that laid the golden egg. However, according to the National Allotment Society, almost 2000 new plots were built in 2013. So get down to your local council and get your name on the list!
Still not convinced?
The average family spends over £56 a week on food and drink. And we’re buying less fruit and veg than before the recession, as we all try and tighten our belts.
An allotment is the perfect solution for a healthier diet for all the family, bringing you fresh, cheap produce all year round. Plus, you’ll save on that gym membership by getting free outdoor exercise!
Renting a plot
Allotments are rented in rods. A rod is about 25 square metres, and you’ll be charged by the rod. Prices will vary from council to council, but you’re probably looking at around £100 a year to rent five rods. Most councils have discounts for OAPs.
That’s a fair amount of space – 125 square metres. It’s roughly half the size of a standard doubles tennis court – and will give you a lot of planting options all year round.
And it’s cheap!
If you spend around £50 on seeds and plants to get started, you could be seeing the financial benefits in a year. By years two and three you’ll be enjoying real savings.
Plus, there are always deals. One year you’ll find onion plants going cheap, another year it might be carrots.
You just need to be clever with your planting. A single crop of spuds should be planted in several stages so you’ve got a continuous supply, rather than one big glut. You could practically make back your seed money in a single season.
Add in some fruit trees or bushes, which will give fruit for years, and you’re laughing to the kitchen.
Total savings
Research has suggested allotment owners could save an average of £950 a year by home growing. More than half of those quizzed rented a plot to save money, while a third did so to be in control of the pesticides used on their food.
Teaching children about food was another important factor. Almost a third of allotment owners found growing their own was a great way of getting the kids interested in where fruit and vegetables come from.
Extras and add-ons
Sheds and toilets are both useful additions to your allotment. A compost toilet that breaks waste down into fertiliser is a great idea. But it shouldn’t be used on vegetables, only around fruit trees and bushes.
Here’s the really amazing thing. Under the 1950 Allotment Act, it’s an allotment holder’s right to keep hens and rabbits on their plot, as long they are for private use and not for business or profit.
Eating rabbit isn’t really in fashion. But keeping hens for their eggs is hugely popular and allotment coops are a brilliant solution for people who’d love to give it a go but just don’t have space at home.
Check your local tenancy agreement to make sure it’s okay, then have a go!
Escapism
Remember, it’s not only about growing your own. It’s about setting up a shed and having an escape from home life. They can be a real bolt-hole away from the hustle and bustle of daily life.
Somewhere you can go and enjoy quality time and good conversation with your fellow allotmenteer. You’ll meet friendly people who are prepared to come and splash some water on your spuds when you’re away!
Speak to your local council in the first instance about allotment availability, and visit the National Allotment Society at www.nsalg.org.uk for more information.
Orchids are wild, delicate and exotic, but they also make surprisingly good houseplants. In fact, they are one of the most popular houseplants in Britain today. They make excellent presents and are widely available – many supermarkets sell them.
Varieties
There are many different types of orchid, with a huge variety of shapes and flower colours.
The most common is phalaenopsis – a beautiful plant. They are known as moth orchids because the flowers grow on arching stems, making it appear as if a group of moths are flying away from the stems.
Another variety is cymbidium, which are marvellous orchids with strong, structured flower heads. Or try dendrobiums, which bear flowers almost the whole way up the stem. They also flower for a long period of time.
Orchids have a very long flowering season, but often people don’t get to enjoy them for long. Treat them wrong and they might only last a month or two. Treat them right and they will flower for months, year after year.
Pots and Containers
Some orchids you buy come in clear plastic containers and have green roots. This is because orchids are epiphytes, meaning they grow non-parasitically on another plant. In the wild they grow on the sides of trees. Because they are not in soil, the roots have evolved to contain chlorophyll so they can photosynthesise just like leaves.
The best thing to do with these types of orchid is to keep it in a clear container like glass or plastic and never put a pot cover on it. The roots need to be exposed to the light to photosynthesise.
Flower and Plant, Beautiful White Phalaenopsis or Doritaenopsis Orchid Flower Streak For Garden Decor.
Obviously you should never let them dry out, but don’t let them become waterlogged either. In the wild, orchids cling to rocks or trees and avoid stagnant water like the plague. If you leave them sitting in water, they’ll die.
Use a spoonful or two of tepid water a week to keep them moist. They also love having water in the air, so a bathroom or kitchen shelf or windowsill with high humidity will make a great home.
Shade and temperature
Orchids hate having too much direct sunlight. A semi-shady east or west-facing windowsill is ideal, especially in the summer. If it’s too bright you risk burning the leaves, but if it’s too dark you won’t get flowers.
Temperature wise, a constant 19C is fine. Avoid putting orchids too close to radiators or letting the temperature fluctuate wildly. If you keep their conditions stable, they can focus on producing beautiful flowers.
Pruning and yellowing
Yes, you can prune them. When the last bloom fades, snip off the flower spike to just above the bud, an inch or so below the last flower. That will help a new shoot to form, bringing with it plenty of new flowers. The odd drop of fertiliser will also help keep your plant vibrant.
Watch out for yellow leaves. Older leaves will naturally turn yellow and can be removed. But any yellowing in young leaves is a sign of stress – too much light, over-watering or very low temperatures. If you have this, you can stop watering and move your orchid to somewhere it has the right conditions, and it should recover.
peat-free Compost and food
Orchids need a special peat-free compost which contains more bark than soil. You can also buy special orchid food. This is important to help them generate enough energy to send up flower spikes.
There are three reasons to turn old household objects into plant containers:
1) Recycling is good for the environment
2) They’re more interesting than your usual plastic and terracotta tubs
3) They’re free!
If you don’t have an old sink, toilet or bidet gathering dust in your garage, you can pick one up at your local tip. They make really quirky garden containers and fit in well with your border or rockery. Plus it’s a hell of a talking point at parties!
Try half-burying a sink to blend it in with the rest of your garden. Or buy feet from your garden retailer to raise your container and make it a stand-out feature on your patio.
You can keep your new container au naturel, but why not give it a faux stone look? Cover the whole surface in PVA glue and let it dry.
In a bucket, mix one part Portland cement, one part building sand and one part peat with water. Once it’s nice and viscous, smear it all over the surface of your container.
The PVA glue will help the mixture bond to the surface, while the cement mixture will dry to give the appearance of stone. This also helps plants and moss attach to the container, making it fit in better with your garden.
I planted household objects like this sink for BBC Gardener’s World Live 2009
Fill it
Before you start, move the container to its final position in your garden, because it will get heavy quickly. Now stick some rocks and gravel in the bottom to aid drainage and stop the plughole getting blocked with peat-free compost (take the plug out too!)
Then add a mixture of peat-free compost and grit, approximately two parts to one.
As always with containers, start in the centre and work outwards. Plant a dwarf conifer in the middle and surround it with a selection of alpines and bulbs.
You can then add trailing plants like ivy to run over the edges, or add a few small boulders to create a mini alpine rock garden. As a general rule for containers, better too many plants than too few. Add a sprinkling of gravel to finish.
