UK: A rooftop allotment can be what you need to grow
Mini rooftop allotments are available to all regardless of transport, lifestyle, experience or budget
By Sophie Mei Lan
Wakefield Express
May 2021
Excerpt:
An urban shopping centre is offering accessible rooftop allotments for its shoppers, local residents and those of us working within cities.
From gardening clubs to owning a mini plot, the Ridings Shopping Centre is much more than a collection of shops, it’s a community hub nestled in a fast-paced part of Wakefield city centre, cushioned between busy bus routes, sky-scraping flats and a commuter route for those utilising its car park or hiking through.
And now we explore one of their hidden gems, offering eco-therapy as a sustainable solution for the demands of those of us living a busy city life who don’t have the luxury of their own garden or like me, they may have an Instagram-friendly compact concrete jungle with no clue of where to start with my own plant pot, let alone allotment plot!
They partnered up with district wide social enterprise Incredible Edible to create this vital space because they know how important accessible nature plots are for mindfulness, how growing your own can reduce stress levels and gardening is even a great form of low impact aerobic exercise burning 150 calories in 30 minutes, perfect for all ages and abilities.
