OUR SITE

Six miles from the Centre of London and situated in a green area, our allotment site is an excellent example. We are a 9 acre site with over 70 plots, with a variety of gardening styles, from formal regimented rows allotment layouts to Cottage Style gardens to a Permaculture area. The site is on a steep sloping hill that does make gardening quite a challenge!

Over the last five years a new and dedicated Committee has been working to improve the site - we inherited a site with about only 1/3rd plots let and many in a very sorry state. We have now have all the plots let, with the creation of new plots and re-instatement of abandoned plots.

Also over the last five years improved access to the top plots, had tree work done, cleared site of rubbish, we had 4 large skips so far!

Our Plotholders are a wide range of people, from Young families to the Elderly; we have a mixture of cultures from Afro-Caribbean to Mediterranean. Through a People Places Grant, we have installed raised beds for Disabled/Wheelchair use so we can include less abled gardeners.

Our members grow a range of different crops apart from the staples, exotic vegetables, such as Sweet Potatoes, Calloo. We know of one Plotholder who grows heritage varieties from the HDRA Heritage Seed Collection. Our permaculture area provides different ways of producing crops foods including wild berries, leaves and roots as well as baked bread and pizza from an outdoor oven. Many Plotholders have crops growing year round to provide something for the plot and as it is home grown it is taste and quality rather than quantity that counts.

We encourage Plotholders to get to know each other and share, so we have a good social scene with events such as BBQs, Apple days, Green Man Fayres and Bonfire night. We actively engage our members to participate in communal tasks, not only do the jobs get done it is also a great way for plot holders to meet and get know each other. In recent years we have been opening the site to the public on certain days with guided walks and Open Days, with people coming from all over London. The site has been featured in a number of magazine articles and has had crews filming documentaries even as far as New Zealand TV and actors as gardeners. We have hosted visits by local schools and had “Identify the Vegetable” events with Local Surestart *1 who say, “ Highlight of our years activities is the Allotment visit”

Due to the steep slope of the hill many diverse trees have been planted in order for the roots to provide anchorage against landslip. This has meant a large area that has been left to wildlife. We have installed a number of wildlife ponds to attract beneficial species; we have lizards, foxes squirrels on site, as kestrels hover above. Bird Boxes have been erected and we want to put up Bat Boxes. We have a number of beehives used by a plot holder who is a local beekeeper. We are at the moment developing an Orchard Area.

We encourage our members to be Organic and the majority are - the diversity of the bugs and predators shows. We have tried to recycle as much as we can, items not required by one Plotholders are often used by another; as indeed a whole path was laid with reclaimed paving slabs from an neighbouring house, saving them a skip and we get supplies of wood chip from the Tree Surgeons Depot, that would otherwise end up as Landfill. We are in the process of having an eco-shelter made using Chestnut timber frame.

*1 Sure Start is the government programme to deliver the best start in life for every child.