UK: How to win the battle of the allotments – and save up to £2,000 a year
Cancel the gym and take up gardening instead
By Toby Walne,
Financial Mail
29 October 2022
Excerpt:
The struggle to secure allotments is becoming more fierce as increasing numbers of hard-up families want one of 300,000 vegetable patches across Britain.
Pitchforks are not yet flying, but with the annual cost of food rising by 14.5 per cent, the National Allotment Society says families can save £2,000 a year on supermarket bills by growing their own fruit and vegetables.
With allotment plots typically costing just £150 a year to rent from councils, demand is outstripping supply. But plots can be found.
Those wanting an allotment need not despair. Although available plots are hard to find, this is the time of year when some gardeners hang up their tools for good as the growing season ends and winter looms.
Tyler Harris, an adviser for the National Allotment Society, says: ‘Competition for plots is at a record high, but inspectors often visit at this time of the year when crops for the year have all been picked.
‘If they discover a plot where less than 75 per cent of the ground has been dug over in preparation for next year, they can try and take it back and rent it to someone else.
‘If you already have a plot, get out your spade and start digging. Those wanting to find a space should start asking around allotment sites to see if one is available.’
Councils have sold off many allotments to developers in recent years. Traditionally, plots are measured in rods – on average 250 square metres (the size of a tennis court – but many are smaller.
