UK: How my allotment makes me a profit
The economics of the allotment make little sense in pounds and pence but in terms of health and wellbeing there are many returns
By John Aglionby
Financial Times
Sept 21, 2023
Excerpt:
I never thought my path to riches might lie through purple-sprouting broccoli. But when I saw the price of a handful of the vegetable in my local farmers’ market in west London, it didn’t require a calculator to work out that the crop growing on the six organic plants in my allotment could be sold for several hundred pounds.
And they took up less than 3 per cent of my plot. My mind drifted to the thought of grubbing up the raspberries, gooseberries, herbs and everything else and covering the whole site in purple sprouting broccoli. Could I even give up the day job?
The fantasy ran aground pretty rapidly, however, on the reality of allotment rules, culture and broader economics.
My plot is at Fulham Palace, close to the river Thames, where — partly to prevent monocropping and industrial scale production — the rules state that one has to have around 50 per cent vegetables, 30 per cent fruit and 20 per cent anything else. The latter includes a shed, patio, paths, compost heap and flowers.
