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[covdiggingdeep]

Lou and Akeel, Lakeview Allotments, Coventry. Plot taken on January 2021 with Lucy and Rach. Akeel: She’s stuck a cover on it to create a bit of shade… Lou: It’s a pagoda! It’s very posh. Akeel: We had loads of wood and we thought we’d build something on the shed. It took me about five days to complete, on and off, with various help from various friends who came along to help and hold hammers. It’s nice to get people down here. In total I probably spent about £20 on building it, on the screws and plastic sheets. Lou: A lot was salvaged. Akeel: Rachel’s added some guttering on to it for the water butt, it’s beautiful! Lou: We’ve got another water butt to put in place actually, a massive container. Akeel: I don’t know what’s happened here… oh no. Looks like they may have been runners. They’re dried out. Maybe they could be used in a soup once they’ve been boiled for about three days. I’ve really struggled to get to the allotment, loads of issues have been in the way of me getting here - health and work - the allotment was supposed to be somewhere to come to get away from all of that but unfortunately I’ve not been able to. Luckily Rachel has been coming, she’s still proper on it. At the moment I don’t feel like I’m part of a team and I think we’re all going to have to sit down together and say ‘come on, whip us into action Rach’ - we should talk to each other and communicate over what needs doing. It seems like for her to have done all of this is a bit unfair, maybe. I think she enjoys it but there are going to be jobs like watering, simple things that do require all of us to be on board, and the weeding. Lou: Yeah, I think so. Get a little schedule together. We have got pumpkins over there, and there’s figs on your tree again. They’re coming up, and looking really beautiful. Asparagus is coming on but that takes a few years. Look at these beans, they’re looking pretty bad ass. I’m not sure how often Rach comes to water. That’s what I mean, we do need to communicate a bit more in our allotment collective group. She gets on with what she wants to do but I think we should have an allotment meeting. Akeel: Rachel and Lucy do the majority of the planting and weeding. We have a WhatsApp group but I lost my phone so I’ve not been able to see what’s been going on. I might miss out on the produce but in some ways I’m not entitled to take any. Lou: We all do the hedge strimming and the weeding prep. Akeel: It’s just personally, the way I feel about it is that it’s not enough, what I’ve done. Coming here and seeing it it’s like ‘wow’, it makes me want to make a plan. It’s good guilt. Lou: I’m really chuffed about the pumpkins, though. They’re amazing. Last year we did the three sisters but this year we’ve moved everything around - there’s been crop rotation. So we did the pumpkins slightly differently and they’ve done really well. Akeel: Lucy built these bricks around the beans, maybe to sit on and admire the stalks! Lou: It’s so nice to come down here and pick things. It makes you want to get stuff done - it’s Virgo season now so it’s the action of doing, it’s very earthy. This is beetroot, and chard. Some beetroot has gone to seed. We’ve got loads of figs. We have a glut of onions and garlic which is awesome. Try an apple, Akeel. Akeel: Will we get into trouble? Lou: I’m going to have a cull on brambles very soon. It’s Godiva Festival and I’m working all weekend but next week I’ll come and do a war on brambles. I quite like it when you’ve had a really good day of physical activity and know you’ve done some good work. Akeel: I’d love to fertilise the ground somehow for next season. I was recently in Pembroke and kept seeing loads of seaweed everywhere on the beaches so I was thinking maybe it would be nice to do a trip to the beach and bring back loads of seaweed. It’s full of iron so would be good for the ground. Lou: If you do the nettle thing, tomatoes love that for the nitrogen. Carrageen moss is really good, very gelatinous. It’s good for your throat and if you’ve got a cold, I know that. It looks like a seaweed but it’s a moss. You boil it in milk and you drink it but if you leave it to settle, it’s like panna cotta. It’s a really good setting agent. Akeel: There’s a place out by Brinklow that has some stables and they’ve got a giant mountain of horse shit that I reckon we could help ourselves to if we ask. I don’t know enough about it but I know you have to wait quite a while for the manure to rot down. Lou: Next door has a no-dig bit on the go and I’m really interested to see how that works. They put the mulch and the cardboard and layer it up, so it’s high, and you never dig it. Our neighbour is really knowledgable about that. That’s the nice thing about allotments, people will tell you things and share knowledge about what’s good. If you were going to produce enough for a family you’d need to be here, tending to the vegetables, all the time. Akeel: It depends how far away your plot is on some occasions. To walk here sometimes makes you knackered and when you get here you want to rest. Lou: We always walk here. Once we walked on a really hot day and I just got here and lay down. I put a few plants in then walked home, I couldn’t do anything. I was just like a shell! Rach has put some plants in the pond that are really good for the wildlife and attracting frogs. Akeel: We’ve seen a few frogs in there. Lou: I just like being with the cycles and seeing it all change. Things evolve. When you’re here, I know you can hear the road, maybe there is nowhere in Cov you can’t hear roads but it’s just so peaceful you know? There’s loads of birds. Sometimes you see buzzards. Things you don’t see if you’re just plodding around town. Because we’re by Lakeview you can see all that wildlife. That’s what I like about it. Akeel: It’s nice seeing everyone’s plots around you evolve as well. The ideas people have that, over the years, have slowly taken shape. It’s a great place to come and see lots of veg and nice things! Lou: There’s a dude over there in his 80s doing everything by hand. It’s beautiful. He really tends to the earth and land. He gets here really early everyday, it’s a massive big plot. We often go have a look to see what he’s been up to.

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Rosie Bolton, Greg Muldoon and Nora, backgarden in Stoke, Coventry. Plot taken on August 2020. Greg: We’ve been out here quite a bit since we last saw you. Over the summer I’ve been managing five different gardens and Rosie has had so much on with work. Rosie: I planted loads of seeds and they all came up really nicely but then they all died because it got really hot. We’ve been away, too. Greg: All things considered we’ve had a lot from here and everything that’s gone in the ground has been successful. The Alys Fowler-esque side of the garden is all thriving. We’ve been getting lots of fresh herbs out of there all the time. Rosie: I’ve got a fancy new apple tree which is still a baby, it was from the apple tasting day at Food Union, it was one of the ones which are red all the way through. That’s my highlight of the season. I’ve got a grapevine in the bathtub over there. Greg: The bathtub has kind of been the main focus, we’ve got the really nice smelling rose bush. Rosie: It’s a really beautiful smell and a proper deep red colour. When I bought it it said it was ‘highly scented, smells like over-ripe pears’ which sounds disgusting but actually it’s really nice. We’ve got a random sweetcorn in there because it didn’t have anywhere else to go. I didn’t think it would even take off. It’s a rainbow corn, a maize one. Greg: I think that’s the thing with a lot of the food growing in this garden is that a lot of it has just been leftovers. It’s all stuff that we couldn’t find places for in other gardens. Rosie: I’ve bought a few things for myself. The sunflowers self-seeded. The ones we planted didn’t do that well but both of the giant ones self-seeded and we didn’t pull them up. Greg: We save the seed-heads for the birds, maybe save a few seed for us. Rosie: I guess because they self-seed they have a bit of a head start. They go along with the season. Greg: Nora helps depending on what mood she’s in. She loves watering and harvesting. She demands beans everyday! She had her first sweetcorn from the garden this morning. How was the sweetcorn Nora? Nora: Good. I feel better now. Sweetcorn! It was hot. Burnt myself. Hot. Greg: I’ve been organising lots of plant and seed swaps and so I’ve been picking different things up. We’ve got some barbecue rosemary here which is really interesting. The sweetcorn we’re growing is black maize, the beans we were growing is a heritage variety called Golden Gate. The parsnips were from the Bedworth Seed Swap which were a heritage variety. Rosie: Carrots are heritage as well. I got some from the Real Seed Company. Greg: We still have an allotment in Rugby. I think going forward, what I’ve learnt trying to tend a lot of these spaces, and also reacting to the way the climate is changing, is that there’s been more reflection on how we do things this year. Maybe typical allotment-ing standards are going to change a little bit. Less mono-cultures. I’m looking more into agro-forestry now - lots of perennials and wild natives and keeping the entire ground covered but with lots of varieties of different plants. Not just rows of beetroot then rows of carrot then rows of parsnip. It’ll be more like soft fruits with different vegetables growing around it. Reflecting on walking through a forest and how you don’t necessarily see the same variety of plants growing in one place. It’s always a mix. I want the allotment space to reflect that and possibly the same in the garden. Rosie: My main thing I have to say since we last spoke is that the weather has just been insane and everything has been getting scorched. Greg: We’ve known it’s coming for a while. Rosie: Some houses are set up so you can see the garden when you’re not in the garden and you’re constantly there. Ours are not so much as it’s down the side, it’s a bit disconnected. It would be nice for it to be more connected to the rest of the house somehow. There are various ways we can’t afford. Greg: We choose low maintenance stuff to plant here, things we can leave, like sweetcorn and squashes, beans, soft fruit. But even that could’ve gone better, which is why I mention agro-forestry. The way we treat the allotment needs to change. Going a couple of times a month isn’t enough. It’s not practical for growing some of the stuff we want to, so we need it to be even more low maintenance and self-sufficient. Self-seeding flowers and lots of herbs and things that can over-winter. Things that aren’t reliant on lots of water.What’s nice about having the side that Rosie’s been focusing on is there’s loads of things to pick, we’ve been making really nice herby salads. Rosie: I can’t remember the last time we bought a bag of salad leaves. We’ve had this lettuce here as a cut and come again. Lots of mint, too. I sow things I like to eat. There’s loads of stuff here popping up that was obviously planted before we moved in, so we still find surprises. Yellow raspberries are self-seeding still from next door’s bush. Greg: The raspberries finished really early this year, last year we were still eating them way into September. They stopped around July this year. We want the back garden to reflect how we feel about our food source. We like to try and source as much food that is as fresh and organic as possible with as little plastic as possible. It’s nice to walk out here and see what you’ve got. Rosie: It’s handy as well. I get into ruts where I’m unimaginative about dinners and if there’s something you’ve got lots of then its a good starting point. I made parsnip cakes the other day. Greg: Often I don’t know what my salads are going to look like but I come out and see we’ve got feverfew, chard, mint, lettuces, carrot tops, beetroot leaves, rosemary, sage, edible flowers, marigold, borage, then all of a sudden it’s like ‘man! This salad is 20 plants deep!’ Rosie: And really intense! Greg: You feel good afterwards. Advice wise, if you’re going to grow food in the back garden, make sure its an aesthetic you’re going to find pleasing. Sometimes allotment spaces just look like work which can feel disheartening. Your garden wants to be a place of sanctuary and a place of peace. Think about plants that are visually pleasing as well as being tasty and edible. Rosie: It’s nice having birds as well. They’re nice to look at. We want to work on that more. Greg: They fertilise the ground, it’s important for biodiversity.

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Lauryn and Rhys, Limbrick Avenue Allotments, Coventry. Plot taken on March 2020. Lauryn: Hello! The allotment is good. I’ve been really pleased with it this year because it’s been so dry that we haven’t had to worry about slugs which is a stark contrast to last year when the slugs ate everything. I got a really good crop of onions. The onions and garlic I pulled up last month. I thought I put them in too late so to get a really good crop I was surprised. I don't want to waste the space so I put some lettuce in and Rhys has put more radishes in. We did put pak choi in but I don't know if it's taken off. We also have got carrots. Over there is beetroot but the weird thing is I planted that before the heatwave and I thought it either hadn’t germinated or the sun had scorched it and now we’ve had rain it’s coming up. I didn’t realise seeds could survive in the ground that long. The spring onions have done alright as well - we keep having them on salads at home. If I don’t plant them in a straight line, I’ll think it’s a weed and pull it up! I have to organise to some extent. I use the strings to know where I’ve planted stuff. I want to use the plot more this winter because last year I didn’t really grow anything over winter. This year, with the cost of living crisis, I think it would be a shame to have the space and not use it. So I have seeds for kale and perpetual spinach - all the things you’d usually hate but I thought no, we need to use this. We’ll be glad of it. There’s different ways to have things. I really didn’t like courgettes but we end up with such a glut of them that I’ve started to quite like them. I put them in curries. I scooped all the seeds out the middle and the outside bit is a lot nicer with a nicer texture. I have found ways to love courgettes! I was never a massive fan of radishes but Rhys has had such great success with radishes that I’ve been having them with salads and I really quite like them now. He’s just started thinning these out, he knows what he’s doing, he’s radish boss. Rhys: I make it up as I go along. Lauryn: We had a good crop of gooseberries as well. These plants were inherited, Gordon who has the other half of this plot put them in last year and this is the first year they have fruited. I got enough out of them to make a rhubarb and gooseberry crumble. Rhys: Sow the seed. Grow the seed. Eat the seed. Lauryn: Alright, Neil. He’s been watching the Young Ones… We put that rhubarb in this year and that one around the corner by the compost heap is inherited as well, so we got loads of rhubarb. Hopefully we’ll get even more next year. You can’t have too much rhubarb. It got so dry so early in the year that I couldn’t dig over the bottom, I couldn’t get a fork into the soil. I’ll dig it over over the autumn this year in case we have another dry spring. I was frustrated I couldn’t use all that space. Rhys: You were beating yourself up a bit. Lauryn: I was. I’m really pleased with what I’ve done, though. These are parsnips along here, they probably won’t come up till Christmas. Courgettes, gifted to us from Gordon. Rhys: We got some lovely huge big ones. Lauryn: When we went camping some decided to go marrow on us. These were dwarf beans which I was really pleased with. Rhys: There’s butternut squash somewhere in this jungle or tropical forest. Lauryn: A lot of these were first attempts. A lot was gifted. With various things going on I just didn’t have time. All the tomatoes were gifted. We swap plants with people and save seed from the runner beans and peas. The peas are really hardy so you can get them in in January and get an early crop. I find with peas the pea moth always gets to them before me, you open them up and find horrible little grubs in them but they only lay eggs in June and July so if you can get them early that helps. The broad beans didn’t work because of the black fly which can apparently be avoided if you plant them in October so I’ll try again in autumn. If it gets too dry, flowers can drop off before pollinators get to them so I’ve read that if you mist them, it helps the flower set. Last year I had a good year for runner beans but it was wet then. A lot of people are saying they haven’t had any this year. I’m quite glad I didn’t put any in because Gordon's have done really well and he'll share his. When we got back from holiday we had a shed full of potatoes because he’d lifted out his and given loads to us. We don’t see him often because we come at different times but he still leaves us things. During term time, I come at least twice a week and in the evenings also to water. I work three days, so I come on the other two days. Sometimes we come on the weekend. During the summer holidays we come more often don’t we? Rhys: I think we’ve come about four days a week. Most days. We do a lot of watering. I move mud around and I put the seed in the ground and wait for the seed to grow! Lauryn: Me and my partner went away the other weekend and stayed at a booji hotel. The food they were serving was really nice, it was a kale and chickpea fritter type thing. On the side - pea shoots. They were lovely. I looked them up and they’re sold for mega bucks. I went to Sainsbury’s and got a box of marrowfat peas for 60p and I thought ‘I could just grow these on the windowsill!’ I have corn here but it just didn’t germinate. I put in 10 plants and 4 of them germinated, then 3 survived. I don’t know if it will come to anything because you’re supposed to plant them in a block and I’ve just got a trio. You’re supposed to shake them to spread the pollen around. I’ve had a really poor year for things germinating. I don’t know if it’s the soil I used at home. I have a mini greenhouse on my balcony and next to nothing germinated. I bought two little bags of compost from the garden centre and one was alright and the other was full of fungus gnats, they were breeding in there, I had to bin it. My partner’s step mum gave me this plant. It’s Roma tomatoes, they’re really good for cooking with. They’re taking forever to ripen but they finally are. Apparently if you put a banana peel around them it helps them to ripen. This one is sweet aperitif, they’re so nice. It’s like eating sweets. This one is sun gold which my mum gave me. And these ones are mystery toms - we’ll find out! I want to stick with the plot for years, we hope to buy a house next year but we want to stay in Tile Hill. One of the reasons I want to stay is because I don’t want to give up the plot. Having an allotment motivates you to get out of the house and you have a lot more space. It can get isolating at home but down here we chat with people. Rhys: This year, even though I was sick the last time I tried a cucumber, I would like to try and grow one. Lauryn: I’ve got a goal for next year. My grandfather was Ukrainian and I’ve puzzled over this for years but every time we had Sunday dinner as kids there was alway a massive jar of pickled gherkins on the table. I thought everybody did that but I’ve found out very recently as an adult that no other family does that. It has come to my attention that that is a very Ukrainian thing to do! What I really want to do next year is grow some baby cucumbers and grow some dill and make proper Ukrainian pickled gherkins. I had no idea it was a Ukrainian thing to pickle the shit out of everything! I want to carry on the tradition with Rhys to pass it down. My dad isn’t around anymore either but we can do these things to remind us of them.

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Paul Moroney, Stoney Road Allotments, Coventry. Plot taken on April 2021. "It’s been a bit hectic with the amount of heat, it hits home when you have an allotment and so much produce growing. I’m still enjoying it, I’m enjoying the flowers and the courgettes are taking over again. I think next year I’ll take stock on what I plant. I think the first time everybody does potatoes as standard but I don’t tend to eat so many carbs so I’m just going to be a bit more particular. I’m learning what grows better inside the greenhouse - I put tomatoes in there this year because everything caught blight last year - I’m doing a bit of both, some in, some out. I’ve had a few surprises, someone on the site next door gave me some cauliflowers. We weren’t sure what they were at the time but it was a nice little happy surprise. I was going to uncover some areas but I think I’ve got enough to manage right now without doing that. I do like the idea of having a wildflower meadow. It’s a nice welcome when you come in and see flowers and the ox-eye daisies and things like that. I’d like to see from the council - you know where they’re planting all the hedgerows - if they could let us know what that wildflower mix was then I could scatter that and hope for the best. It’s for the wildlife really. As well as looking nice it attracts more wild birds and pollinators. It makes a nice change rather than having all vegetables, I’m only feeding two so there’s only so much potatoes and courgettes and onions and garlic you can eat. It’s been okay managing the size of the plot. With the summerhouse, some people arrived a month ago saying that progress is being made. Different representatives from the council and conservation society did say progress is being made but I haven’t seen anybody with a digger or anything yet. They need £100K for the whole plot and they got a grant of £90K from English Heritage. The committee think the onus is on the council to find the rest really. It’s a shame if they have to get to a dilapidated state like that before someone steps in but hopefully… Some of the biggest advice I could give is to get some covering or membrane to suppress the weeds while you manage what you think you can manage, then uncover it as you go along. The lady over there, when they prepared the allotment for her and flattened it to make it look nice, she started with raised beds and didn’t cover the rest but before you know it with a bit of sunshine and rain it’s up about 6 foot. It then looks unmanageable, but if you get it covered in the preparation stages it helps. I come down at least twice, maybe three times a week. Because I’m retired I can park on the side of the street and come down. Often in the evenings when it’s a bit cooler and I bring a flask of tea. As it’s my first growing season, there were surprises - it was my first time for cauliflower, first time for cucumbers and this morning I’ve just noticed some peppers in there. I’ve been away for a week and that’s the biggest issue especially in this heat - asking people to water my plot while I’m away. I’ve got a hip operation on Monday which is going to lay me up for at least six weeks. You’re not allowed to drive for 4 weeks - my son’s not a big veggie plot fan but he might give me a lift down while I’m on crutches. You can’t plan for these things. I’ll come down and harvest what I can then let the rest go. There’s things I’m still learning. Those berries, red or white berries I’m not sure, there’s nothing at all on those. Maybe because it’s the first year they may not fruit until the second year. There are two books I’ve got, allotments month by month, and that’s a godsend. You can see what to expect and when to plant things for a good harvest. I’ve bought myself 100 brown envelope seed packets with sticky labels - that’s something I slipped up on before, thinking I would know the shape of the seeds and flower-heads but then six month later you’re not sure if it’s a grass seed or a poppy seed, ha ha. Even labelling stuff in the ground, you need to use the right pencil or pen or it will wash off! I think you have to expect to share some produce with pests. I’ve seen the odd rat and badger. If we can have two of then they can have one. I have more trouble with ground elder than anything else, a strong weed. Once I uncover an area I know the ground elder will be blanched and weak. I’m inspired by the three guys who are on the other side there, they’ve been here for 30 or 40 years. They share their excess plants. It’s like having an extended back garden, really. I’m in it for the long-term. For the price they charge for one year of £50, it’s a good return. The background at home I keep the lawn and borders tidy but here you can afford to go wild in certain areas. I’ve taken cuttings and used rooting powder and potted up about 20 plants of lavender. The hollyhocks come up every year, a nice bit of colour and height, giving more structure to the garden."

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Elliot Christie, Windmill Road Allotments, Coventry. Plots taken on March 2020 and March 2021 "I haven’t been able to do as much as I’d like lately. When I first started getting into gardening I wasn’t doing too much else at the same time, it was mid-Covid so it was like a full-time hobby whilst I worked weekends at B&Q. I used to take my time and do everything. This is the first time I’ve been in full time work and trying to run the allotment at the same time. Last time was my first major season, buying all my own seeds and trying a lot of varieties. I put a lot in and this year I wanted to step up the game and get even more varieties but it’s been insightful - when you’re tired after work and come down you can’t get as much done. I sit down and relax and potter rather than go at full force. I’ve had to let go of some plans, everything was designed up - fennels here, marigolds here, leeks intercropped with pumpkins and sweetcorn with beans… My original purpose of taking on the allotment was to branch out, growing food was important and having fresh produce that tastes good alongside the fulfilment of growing it yourself, that was a major thing that got me into gardening, but also the enjoyment I got from it and the possibility of maybe turning that into full-time work, which is what I have achieved which is cool. I have two jobs now where I’m gardening and growing food. I really wanted to do vertical gardening, going upwards. For example with this long bed here, I wanted a trellis for nasturtiums and have another one on top. I wanted to do more with tanks - heating up a wine bottle then making holes all around a tank filled with compost. You could put strawberries and lettuce, like an entire bed going upwards. I enjoy working on a small allotment over a big allotment in terms of creativity. It can feel daunting on a big allotment and you fall into a trap of just doing basic stuff on the ground, you don’t need to think outside the box. My favourite thing about this allotment is my path, I try and have as little path space as possible but not make it inaccessible. This year I’ve been thinking about turning my path into compost, chucking stuff on it to rot down. Then I have fertiliser for the bed sitting right next to it. The sunflowers have done a really good job bringing the bees. If they weren’t here I would have brought more flowers. I didn’t plant any of them - the squirrels did it! Last year a neighbour gave me giant African sunflowers and then the squirrels did the job for me over winter. You can tell a squirrel has buried a whole head because there’s so many sunflowers growing from the same spot. They make the place colourful. I’ve focused a lot of saved seed stuff this year. My cinnamon basil I grew last year from seed I bought and now I’m seeing if the saved seed actually works, especially as I didn’t go to much effort to preserve it that well. I’ve grown some unique things this year - a Welsh onion which I’ve never grown before, then kintsai there, like a Chinese leaf celery. It has similar properties to chamomile in that it’s anti anxiety, it tastes lovely as a leaf chopped up in salad. I flip through the seed catalogue and buy whatever catches my attention. The strawberry sticks were really interesting to grow. This is carrot flower, I pick them and put them in vases with flowers. This is orange balm, it’s really nice, I keep telling them at The Pod to use it! And this is orange thyme. Because I haven’t been able to come and do as much as I wanted to it’s opened my eyes more to going towards permaculture. Less so in the way I’m designing the garden but more in the way I’m gardening, letting things self-seed and grow where they want to grow, at the time they want to grow rather than me spending hours at home sowing seeds and taking up space. Being in work now, I have to let nature do its thing. You don’t have to sow your own carrot. In nature they’re designed to self-seed and grow - look at this, how much seed is on there is ridiculous. Next year is when I’ll really see what will happen. I’m only 23 now, by the time I’m 33 I’ll have gathered so much more experience. I won’t let everything solely self-seed, but it will help me understand how plants work, especially with how things are going with the climate. The plants will know when the best time for them to pop up will be. Every seed has a different gene. I read a lot but I’ve found most knowledge through practical application. It’s been a different year this year, not having rain. They turned the water off on all of the allotments in Coventry. I come up here four times a week, often with my grandad. We spend tonnes of time together here. We help with watering on each other’s plots when one of us is away, too. You tend to have a glut of produce at one time, the whole point is to share it out. Let me take you to see my new greenhouse… (On plot number 2) It’s a wicked greenhouse, it’s so old now that the people who made it are out of business, I think it was pre-war. The guy who had this in Droitwich had his own homestead, it was so well built, he must have been an engineer. We dismantled it, brought it home, every pane in tact… it took months to put it up. We started, then my nan got Covid, so then we put it on hold. When she got better we spent months trying to assemble the frame but it didn’t work and then work started taking up all my time. Eventually, we got all the family down, one person in each corner, someone screwing in bolts… there were six of us! The design is amazing. This was my original plot, it’s where my medicinals are. They were the first thing I put in. This is hemp agrimony, a liver purifier, it’s insanely bitter, but really good for you. Mugwort, apple-mint, chocolate-mint, lovage, salad burnett, st john’s wort, this is how I love to garden. Plants self-seeding and spreading. In nature, the plants with the best genetics will survive in the wild. I make tinctures and skin oils. My nan had an ear infection and I made her an oil that really helped. You need to get them when the energy is in the flower. My prime advice for anyone would be to enjoy it. Don’t do anything that’s going to stress you out. Take your time. It’s a life-time thing, if you enjoy it you’ll end up doing it forever. Don’t feel a rush to do a million things. Learn about what gardening is and how to do it properly and how to help the wildlife."

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Amanda Peberdy, Sherbourne Valley Allotments, Coventry. Plot taken on May 2021. "I’ve got beetroots and chard, turnips and lettuce, and that’s chicory. I’ve got kohlrabi as well and a couple of cabbages that I salvaged from the pigeons. We bought some really bad compost this year - it was advertised as organic ‘super-grow’ and it seems to have killed everything. Even in the greenhouse, in pots, you would water them the night before really well and by the next morning it was like a hard crust on the top. I’ve never known anything like it and if you find some in the beds, it’s like lumps of lava rock. You have to chuck it. I get loads of stuff from the market man, he’s brilliant, he was saying that if things are dying, use a type of seed compost - everything has thrived in that. I’ve been busy so I haven’t been here half as much as last year. I’ve been running a lot of yoga workshops, two a month, and working six days a week with my classes and one-to-ones. But we did take on a second plot. There’s blue potatoes, a lot of them we’ve dug up but we still need to dig up the second earlies. We’ve got loads of round courgette plants, they get really big and we have to pick them as soon as possible but they taste really sweet for courgettes. This is tree spinach, asparagus, peas - they didn’t do great - we got about three forkfuls! Butternut squash, runner beans. Some I sow into the soil and some I start off in pots. We’ve had loads of snap peas and rainbow carrots which have done really well. I like flowers as well, we live in a flat with a roof garden but really it’s all concrete so it’s nice to have flowers. We have pattypans that are getting quite big now. I’ve over-planted courgette plants. Here are strawberry plants, they are the best strawberries I’ve ever ever had. Sweetcorn, kale, more courgette. I’ve bought a few plants from the Mind plot nearby. We’ve had a massive pigeon problem this year, like mafia, decimating everything. One of my neighbours who has been here for 30 years says they’ve never known a pigeon problem like it. The foxes poo everywhere, too, even on the bench. I’ve also grown broad beans, a herb patch, turnips, broccoli, purple sprouting, onion squash which I’ve never grown before and baby pumpkins. The crop I use the most is probably the rainbow chard and we eat loads of greens. We love the spring cabbage. I’ve grown a lot of new stuff this season. I wasn’t sure what to do with the kohlrabi but it’s like a turnip. Melons! We’ve grown a watermelon in the green-house which I’m really happy about and we’ve eaten two melons from in there, and cucumbers. I panicked at first when I got the plot - I didn’t want to take this plot on, it was wild, I didn’t know how we were going to do it but slowly over time we strimmed it down and my partner started building beds and we started buying palette collars and then it kind of… emerged. It’s the same that side, we don’t have a massive vision for it yet but we’re creeping into it bit by bit. We’re hoping to have a pond and more beds and flowers on this side. Everybody always said to me: take your time but we didn’t want to, we went berserk. I’m glad we did that but this year we’re falling into that advice more. When I’m down here I’m just enjoying it. It’s so peaceful. There’s so much to do but in another way there’s not a lot to do: you can’t be cooking, you can’t be hoovering, the phone’s not ringing. We see the plots as a really long-term project. Next door is going to be the fruit plot. We’ve inherited another big cabin, we want to make it all glass so we can see all of the plot. My partner has lots of plans for it. We want to keep this plot as more of a chilled out space, we want to keep the grass and walk in and feel like it’s a green space, as opposed to next door which is all square beds and cultivated. We’d like to have people down and have a shared space for mindfulness. It feels like a soft space here, there’s hardly any ego on the allotments. There are no billboards telling you who you’re meant to be. It has its own mini-culture. The only time we turned a few eyes is when we brought our kitten down on a lead!"

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Rose, Jonah and Elijah Siddiqui, Sherbourne Valley Allotments, Coventry. Plot taken on February 2022. Rose: I’m growing a lauki gourd, it’s an Indian vegetable apparently really good for this heat because it’s a cooling vegetable. My mother in law will know what to do with it. I’ll give her this large one then take the smaller ones! I’m attracted to more unique varieties of crops but I’ve done the standard ones as well… the broccoli did really well, I harvested that a while ago. I let two radishes go to seed so I could collect the seed for next year. There’s a lot, I think I only needed one plant. I tried to stake them but they kept toppling over! Jonah: Inside them are the seeds. Rose: You can eat the pods too if they’re new but I think they might be a bit too tough on the outside now. They’re quite spicy, my neighbour liked them. It feels like I’m slowing down now at this point in the season but I feel like I’m missing something, that I need to be doing something else ready for the next season. I’ve accumulated a lot of stuff - we got a free greenhouse but haven’t put it up yet, that’ll go right down there. It’s been really really good, I really enjoy it but the kids sometimes get bored and go over to the Food Union plot because its a lot tidier there! I come here everyday and the boys come most days. Jonah: My favourite bit about the allotment is picking the fruit. Rose: That’s Phil’s side but he lets us take all the raspberries, the bushes have been really fruitful and only just ran out. They’re sweeter when you don’t pick them too early. I was only going to do two beds to begin with but I ended up doing most of the site until I ran out of compost. I can’t believe we’ve only been here for half a year, it feels like ages. My husband doesn’t come down that much but when he does he’s always surprised at what’s new. When you’re here you don’t feel like much is getting done but when someone else comes they’re impressed. In our greenhouse we’ve got watermelon, one is pretty big. I put it in some tights - Phil said that is good to hold it up. I’ve also grown a massive cucumber which took me by surprise. Jonah: That watermelon at the back is supposed to grow two times bigger mamma says. I’ve been catching loads of crickets over there in Phil’s big bushes of dandelions and flowers. Rose: I killed one of the watermelons somehow, it was the first one I put in the tights but I’m most proud of the watermelons that worked, everyone said they were really hard to grow but because of the heat it’s been okay. It’s still messy on the plot but I wanted to figure out the growing side this year then when it gets to autumn onwards I can do other things properly and make it look neater. I compare to other plots all the time - it’s a good thing because it makes me think things are achievable. It’s nice to know it can get to that if you put the effort in. Jonah: Can I get a rhubarb for porridge tomorrow? Rose: Yes, you can. I do some homeschooling here if it’s to do with growing. We do maths and english at home. Anything hands on we do here. He likes to plant things and he likes to harvest things. Next year when we get that side Jonah said he wants one section so he can grow asparagus. I’ll let him figure that one out. In terms of home-ed, growing things is essential now I think. A lot of the time you don’t think you’re home-edding you are really - everything is learning. When we go to Sainsbury’s they do the shop and see the price of things. Now, because we have a courgette plant, he sees we need 90 per plant to make it worthwhile over the year compared to how much compost we’ve been buying! Hopefully next year we’ll save more money. I feel bad if I don’t come here everyday but now I don’t see myself ever going on holiday - I can’t leave! I’ve learnt a lot in a short spaces of time. I keep saying to everyone that I still don’t know a lot but I also know so much. It’s crazy they don’t teach half of this stuff at school because it’s so interesting. When you have different sessions about tinctures and getting the jewellers loupe out and looking at the flowers properly, there’s so much detail in nature. It’s awesome. My approach is different now to what it was six months ago when I first arrived. When I first took it on I wanted to teach myself and teach the kids but at that time it was just about growing veg. The environment that you’re in here, everyone has the same mindset and is really generous with their time and sharing crops. It sounds cheesy but you find an extended family and they get you. You’re not as wasteful. Advice I would give would be to enjoy the space and not get too overwhelmed. A lot of plots aren’t in the condition where you can plant straightaway, you have to get rid of a lot of things and prep things. I used to read a lot and watch a lot of videos but then you can give yourself too much information. Understand a few crops within a season they’re supposed to be growing. Put that in, once it’s established, go on to the next thing. I recently saw on Instagram a site called Foraged Fibres where they take the bindweed or nettle vines and turn them into cordage to make baskets and stuff. That might be the next thing we do with the kids. There’s so much that’s here that you can turn into something else. Next year I’m taking on that plot too. I think Phil was just sussing me out to see if I had the commitment. He’s so awesome, he’s so funny and really good with the kids. We were harvesting some rhubarb and he gave some of his when he asked Jonah what he would make with it. Jonah said some crumble and we went home and made some and bought some for Phil the next day. Phil loved it then gave him a Nigel Slater book to encourage his interests. Jonah: I’d been told about rhubarb crumble for a while and I wanted to make it to see how it tastes. Usually rhubarb is quite sour but with the amount of sugar and how you boil it - when you eat the rhubarb in the bite of the crumble it tastes different. It tastes better. My favourite bit of the plot is up there - things harvest quicker up there and there are interesting plants. You see these plants here that look a bit like lily pads, they’re called nasturtiums, they’re a bit peppery when you bite them and they’re a good companion with these flowers. It’s good with lettuce and radish pods and bean pods.

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Lucy Smith, Brownshill Green Road Allotments, Coventry. Plot taken on March 2020. "I’ve still got the two plots like last time, nothing much has changed design-wise. These are my beans, rhubarbs, my dad’s lettuce which is starting to stress a bit, sunflowers, courgettes, onions, potatoes, more beans, my corn looks really sad, sorry about that! Here’s my pond, it needs filling up as it’s gone down over the last few days. It has a solar-powered pump to help make the water clearer. I’ve got one frog, but no frogspawn. I’ve done wild-flower boxes, they’ve not done that great because of the heat, but the sunflowers have done well. I’ve used my poly-tunnel just for drying this year as I’ve not had a chance to put anything in. I have a good allium harvest. I found out recently that my neighbour’s got a bumble nest in her compost bin which she’s taken over that side, I did wonder where all the bees from my lavender were going, and that’s where. She found out the hard way unfortunately and her hand got the brunt of it. I’ve got more potatoes to dig up, I’ve already got a bucket full. We’re going to be living off potatoes for quite some time! There are cucumbers riding up here, got quite a few of those. Originally I started off the allotment with my friend at the time, it became more and more of a hobby, I ended up falling head over heals with it, plants all over my house, I’d be thinking about it at work, and over time it fit well into my lifestyle. Especially with shift work and having anti-social hours, it made me think about what I really wanted to do with my time. Coming up here I enjoy being on my own and putting my time and efforts into producing something I’m really proud of, as well as producing food for family and friends. It really helped my mind and mental health as I have a stressful job. I read here, plant flowers, then a few weeks later I have plants to be really proud of. It’s lots of tiny sprinkles of joy, it’s hard to describe. I didn’t think it would take over my life as much, I didn’t know I would enjoy it so much. I always liked the idea of growing food and tried it in my garden but there was never enough room. I have enough space now and space that I can call mine which I can do what I want with as I live with my parents. I’ve learnt how expensive vegetables are in supermarkets and how better they taste from the allotment rather than the supermarket. You don’t realise how different the taste of a cucumber is, for example, when you grow it yourself. Some days it’s a challenge after work to come and water, but by the time you get here actually you just enjoy being outside and it doesn’t feel like a chore, it’s time to mellow. I’m most proud of all the flowers, I really love bees. I’m really happy with the amount of bees I’ve brought into the plot - the lavender is covered as are the sunflowers and beans. I’m glad they want to come to my plot, I always wanted a section for pollinators. The lavender was a small plant from the supermarket but it has burst, full of flower and the pollinators encourage them to flower more. The plants wouldn’t grow if they weren’t pollinated - plant something that will bring them in and you’ll get a better harvest. Different types of bees come, not just one. I don’t do as much for the birds at the moment, they eat so much, but over winter I’ll put a few feeders out and top up the water once a week to keep them going. My dad still helps me, he’s at work today so couldn’t pop up. He’s really enjoying it and loves picking up his lettuce and watching it grow. I got him into it by asking him to come and help me water and over time he’s been inspired to grow stuff he wants to eat. I’ve let the onion and garlic beds rest over the summer, once it’s not so hot I’ll put some manure over the beds for the winter. I never like to grow the same thing in the same bed, so these beds will rest over the winter. Some vegetables don’t take as much from the soil so I may sow them over the winter. I don’t like to think too far ahead but I hope to keep on the plot and if I end up moving elsewhere I’d like to think that whoever took on my plot would have a starting layout to do whatever they like with. If I ever get my own house some day I think the back garden will be very similar to what I’ve created here. The best tip I could give would be to let a section of your garden be for nature to take hold of. Something like a lavender bush or buddleia to bring insects to your garden. The more insects you have the more it will benefit you and your plants. I’m still a secretary for the site, as a committee we have filled up all the plots now. Over there, they have had the plot for 3 months and have done so good. Now it’s getting towards autumn growing time will slow but they can get ready for summer and everyone seems really keen. I didn’t know how much work it would be to be a secretary but I’m happy. We leave people to it. We get reviewed in October/November but how it looks now, it’s very proactive. I have no doubt it’ll be okay. Everyone is here for different reasons. It’s far more important than just growing vegetables."

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Lauryn and Rhys, Limbrick Avenue Allotments, Coventry. Plot taken on March 2020.

Lauryn: We started out on the plot next door, we did well for our first season and when we came to renew for the second season, the chap who has this plot asked if we’d like to have half of his. As you can see it’s already been cultivated. He would rather share with somebody that he knew than have a complete strangers here. It’s a lot better - we’ve got a compost heap and a shed, and some gooseberries! I’m very excited about the gooseberries, I’ve never had them before, I don’t know if they’re going to fruit, all I know is that I have to mulch them, so we’ll see what happens. We’ve got some raspberry canes down at the bottom as well. I put some onions in the other week and they’re just starting to get established now so we’ll take the fleece off soon. We put that on because there’s so many pigeons around here. If you put something in you can expect it to go straightaway because they treat it like an all-you-can-eat buffet. I put some garlic in as well but that's not peeking through yet. I usually come twice a week during the week - it's harder to get down here at the weekends now. I try and spend two mornings at least a week down here but this is a much bigger plot so I think I might need to up my game a bit. I’ve not been able to come so much before work as it’s been so busy but I’d like to get back into the habit of that as I find it really clears my head in the morning. Rhys has been brilliant, as you can see he’s very busy digging. The plot’s actually in his name because when we came to sign for it I was talking to somebody and he decided to sign and hand the money over. We took the first one on in March last year so this is our second season. Rhys has got more into it as time’s gone on. Rhys: I like growing radishes. Radishes. Radishes! I sort of just do what I’m told. Lauryn: Our neighbour has all of his dug so we’re turning the ground over at the minute. Because we’ve got space we’re going to do sweetcorn this year - hopefully anyway. We need a lot of room because we need to plant them in a grid because they’re air pollinated. Somebody said that every time you walk past them you should give them a little shake. Rhys: I did a lot of watering last year. I keep an eye on the insects and whether they’re reproducing. They’re all at the bottom of the tank at the moment. I always hear birds but you don’t know where it’s coming from. They’re like invisible stalkers. You always hear the pigeons saying: “You’re so, so stupid!” You put netting over and bricks on the sides so it stays down and the birds can’t get in but they always find a way. They laugh at us! Lauryn: This plot is a blank slate. I left stuff for the new people. I’ve never got a plan. I dig a bit and plant a bit. I’ve got onions and garlic and I’ll probably do spring onions as well. I’ll rake that bed over as it’s chunky at the minute and we’ll put Rhys’ radishes in there. Here I’m going to do a row of broad beans and a row of peas. We’ll extend it and do runner beans and sugar-snap peas. I have a vague plan! Rhys: You’ve just got to be careful when digging not to murder worms. Lauryn: The plot keeps me sane, I have some health problems with migraines but I hope I won’t have to ever give it up.

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Rosie Bolton, Greg Muldoon and Nora, backgarden in Stoke, Coventry. Plot taken on August 2020.

Rosie: We haven’t been doing much as we’ve been so busy. Greg: In the past couple of years we’ve started too early and there’s been really late frosts. Today we’re tidying and sorting as the frosts are almost over. Nora is interested in the seeds! (Nora throws soil everywhere) Nora: Yeah Greg: We haven’t started sowing many seeds yet as we don’t have loads of space. It’s been too cold to start germinating stuff. In my job I hosted a seed and crop-swap yesterday so there was lots of leftovers there. We’ve been doing other things in the garden as well like filling a compost bin at the top of this bed which will be super rich and ready to go soon, and we flattened that space of earth over there. We inherited this garden and it’s a bit of a pig-sty. It still is in some cases. We’re slowly getting there. This kale is two years in, it has finally started to bolt but it’s been through two winters and there are seeds to save, the seeds will be strong. Rosie: We want lots of beetroots! Greg: We’re focusing on things that usually come wrapped in plastic. And herbs, that bed is full of herbs we use day to day. Rosie: We have a globe artichoke coming up there. We planted it last year and it’s coming up now. We’ve planted bulbs - my mum and sister came and did that. Greg: We’ve got blossom on our cherry tree which we’re excited about. We have raspberries self-seeding from our next-door neighbour which we’re going to keep. They’re golden raspberries so the birds tend to eat them less for some reason. Nora has been planting peas and Rosie planted garlic bulbs. It’s harder to go outside with Nora at the moment as she’s so much more mobile and also chaotic. She doesn’t listen to reason. You can try and garden with her but she just wants to throw dirt everywhere. She’ll pick it up as she spends a lot of time outdoors. Rosie: She loves splashing around, she just loves getting dirty which I suppose is what being a baby is for. By the time there is carrots we’ll have the paddling pool out and she’ll have somewhere else to do all this business. Greg: We had our bathroom stripped out recently so we have a bathtub as a big planter, and we still haven’t built our hothouse yet but we’ll get there. It’s trying to find a full day where we can put our attention to it and build it when we’re not working or… (Nora eats the kale and giggles) Rosie: It’s a funny time of year, an exciting time of year though. Greg: I look forward to when you come back in the summer and we’ve got some stuff in the ground. With work we’re setting up a new medicinal garden so I’ve been learning about medicinal herbs. We’ll plant more of those in the wild side of the garden.

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Georgia Kelly, backgarden in Spon End, Coventry. Plot taken on April 2021.

“It’s been surprising gardening lately. I have more in pots, last year I had more in the bed - corn and beans and tomato. So much did die back and there was a blight on the tomatoes but I think everybody got that last year. A lot of the stuff in the bed died before it took off. So many of the soft flowerpots down at the front completely died back. I was so busy and lazy over the winter that I didn’t get rid of anything. As soon as it started to get a little bit warmer everything started coming back - the six broccoli there and two kale on the end. The kale went in last summer. All of the geraniums have also come back. Somehow the strawberries are still here! The weather’s been so weird, I’m keeping an eye on everything. There’s an osteospermum down there that’s gone so wilted and limp almost like it knew what was coming but I’m waiting now to see what’s happened to everything else. I nearly put the garlic out yesterday but I’m so glad I didn’t.You have to think about it in shorter-term, from season to season. Life always takes over but it’s been nice, I’ve been on three different jobs for the past few months and I’ve gone the majority of the pandemic not having to work from home, but now I’m working from home. It’s nice choosing when to take a break between meetings and emails and wonder out. I love going into B&Q - every time something looks faintly tired or sad it’s put in the clearance bin even though it’s perfectly alright and just needs dead-heading or watering differently. I take all the seemingly dead stuff and look after it. I have honeysuckle, clematis and jasmine to trail, too. I keep weeding new sections to plant things. I was trying to figure out how to do a sun-map of the garden to decide where to plant stuff, then I realised some of the weeds have done it for me! I don’t like pulling things up as they have their own eco-systems around them. I want to leave the garden wild and biodiverse but I’m getting a dog next month so I have to be aware of their health and insects that are around and balance the health of the dog with the health of the garden! I’ve also been accumulating French doors to try and fashion into a questionable looking greenhouse. I don’t have enough doors or enough time, I’m just going to use what I have and make an A frame rather than a shed. It’s immediately restorative coming out here. It doesn’t matter how stressy I get with work, I can leave all of that stuff in my house and come out here. I nearly had to leave this place because my landlord wanted to do renovations. The not knowing for so long was awful. The thing that was beating me up so much about it was that I was going to loose my garden.”

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Elliot Christie, Windmill Road Allotments, Coventry. Plots taken on March 2020 and March 2021

"I’ve got lemons here, calamondins that you make the sauce with - super zesty and tangy. A really nice flavour explosion. Good in the kombucha as well with the orange mint. I got all of these from B&Q from when I was working there and they were chucking them all away - free, free, free! This one was literally a stick and I stuck it in here because it’s so humid and it came back to life. At the weekend it was 40 degrees in here - crazy! I’ve got silicon to seal up all the little spots. The guy before me built this. I started this plot in March 2021. I had loads of free time in the pandemic, I was experimenting loads with a herb garden on another plot, then I got this which was awesome. It was just mud, a greenhouse and a blue tunnel. First thing I did was build the compost. That’s the number one thing to do in a garden. I got my love of gardening from my nan and grandad. When I left uni I didn’t know what to do, I wasn’t playing much rugby which is what I’d dedicated my life to, and when I came to the allotment I got that rewarding experience - it was like being on a team with all the people on the allotment. It was really peaceful growing veggies and getting all the rewards from your hard effort. My nan has been doing it since my mum was a girl so it wasn’t hard to get into. My nan was always growing raspberries. It wasn’t until I was 19 I got really into it. My mum has never been into it but since I’ve been doing it she’s become more interested in the insects, bees and what the allotment brings. I love herbs. When I first met Greg from Food Union I took him some turkey-tail with elecampane root, hops and marshmallow root which I foraged or grew in my herb garden and dehydrated the roots. I like to investigate all the medicinal properties of the herbs. It was before the pandemic even started that I ordered all the herbs - elecampane root is good for bronchitis, healing the alveoli in your lungs. Marshmallow root can soothe your whole body and your skin and your intestines - everything! And then all of the sudden the pandemic hit and I was growing all of these lung healing herbs. It was a bit weird to be honest. Then you walk through Coombe Abbey and it’s a sea of turkey-tail everywhere, as if the world is saying: “harvest me, you need me! I heal you!” It wasn’t until 3 years ago when I was stepping into the mushroom world when I heard about Paul Stamets and he was so enthusiastic about mycology, that’s when I really started looking into it all. There’s a lot of dangerous mushrooms you can harvest but a lot of them don’t have too many similarities and you can be pretty safe if you know what it looks like. They’re really good for you. I love being in the wild foraging. Last year I did spring onions, the soil is really nice here as the last guy was so good at composting. He showed me loads of things and he gave me my first marigolds which I’ve collected loads of seed from. You can do so much with nothing. I got all my materials for free. I’m big on maximising space and find it really pleasing to see the space being utilised by being creative. I must have spent hundreds of hours during the pandemic here."

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Laura, John and Lynda Wells, Stoney Road Allotments, Coventry. Plot taken on November 2020

John: Two years ago this week is when lockdown kicked in. Laura: We got the plot in 2020, it was just before the Christmas lockdown. It was really overgrown when we took it on. The pandemic inspired us to start it - I was growing tomatoes on my balcony and I called up the allotments asking for a free plot. They said not at the moment but then offered us this overgrown one, saying if we can clear it then we can have it.We cleared it and put the shed back together. We’ve put in raised beds. John: We have a resident rat. He’s going to be evicted soon. Laura: We have everything covered over at the minute. We have onions and garlic that we did at the end of last year. We could only come here as a household during the Christmas lockdown - it was the only way we got to see each-other. John: As things got easier, it was somewhere we could all get together and keep our distance. It was good because it occupied our minds. Laura: I live in a flat so I don’t have a garden. This place is really good. It’s my plot but I bring my mum and dad down to help. Lynda: We’re the workforce! Laura: We come down every Saturday and Sunday, it’s a communal space we can vent and talk about our weeks. I want to train the broad beans to grow from these raised beds, climbing over overhead and making a shaded area, rather than wigwams.We’ll use an old gazebo frame and scavenged football nets. We’re ready to plant stuff now. John: We plant whatever tickles Laura’s palette! Laura: Last year we grew potatoes, onions, beans, but this year we have different varieties of potatoes and beans - broad beans, French beans. John: Carrots, parsnips, cabbage, we try the lot. More or less, Christmas dinner! Laura: We like talking to other people on the plot as well. People move in all the time. John: We’ve discovered foxes here, badgers here, and of course there’s Roland the rat in there. Laura: The only problem we’ve had with pests is that we had a load of corn just ready to crop and either the wood pigeons came in and dive-bombed in or the badgers busted them up. John: They knock them over and then eat the cobs. It was a shame because they were looking really good. Laura: Some people grow carrots on their shed because there’s a certain fly that can’t go higher than six foot! John: We have a Victorian Summerhouse on this plot but it’s potentially quite dangerous now. It’s sad really. Laura: They’re Grade II listed buildings but nobody’s doing anything with them.

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Paul Moroney, Stoney Road Allotments, Coventry. Plot taken on April 2021.

“I’ve had the plot just under a year. I think it had been vacant for about two years. The committee on the allotment trimmed all the major brambles down and gave the trees a good trim. The rest was about a foot or two foot high.The committee like to prepare it for any new plot holders because it’s a bit daunting if you come and it’s six foot high everywhere. I was given the choice of taking on either a half plot or full plot so I took the full plot and will do each half a year at a time to make it more manageable. In my own mind I like to have a structure to see where I’m going to have the footpaths. I look on Marketplace and Freecycle for anybody giving away lots of slabs. Then I can plot where I’m going to have the greenhouse and shed. I was in computing so you have to be a bit methodical in what you’re going to be doing. You get plot envy as well because some people are going for lots of raised beds which does look really nice but I keep looking round for planks of wood or people getting rid of their decking. Probably because I’m a bit tight as well! There’s a bit down by the porta-loos where people put their unwanted metal or glass and old wheelbarrows - you can use them and plant them up with sunflowers or whatever, and they’re portable! The allotment committee are brilliant. Whenever they see a new plot holder they bring over all their excess plants and ask if you want some broccoli or lettuce… the majority of the produce I had in the first year was all donated from other people. At that time we were into the growing season so I hadn’t any seeds yet. It’s a lovely community, very welcoming. I had to keep a track of all the adjoining allotments as I’m not so good with names. All of that side have been vacant since I’ve been here but they’re all taken up now. I’ve met loads of people. We have the AGM at the Open Arms, it was really social. The summerhouse is about 200 years old, people used to sleep in them during the war to get away from the bombing in the city. The chap who was head of security used to live in this one - there’s a fireplace, it’s really nice. He started a woodworking business, he’s got a lot of tools in there. In that time it was frowned upon to have a separate business so I think he had to leave. I’ve been onto the council to try and get someone to come and make it structurally sound. We have a grant from the Heritage Trust for £90,000 to renovate all of the brick buildings but they were asking the plot holders to put up another £10,000 which those with the houses probably might but not so much for those who don’t. The council own the allotments however so it should be them to cover the remainder. I’ve recently spoken to the head of parks, they suggest to start a petition. I’ve bought a book on allotments throughout the year which splits it up into each month so as newbie I know when to be buying my seeds and when to plant them on. Mainly I’m thinking of what do I like to eat? Sprouts and broccoli, garlic, shallots and potatoes. Sweetcorn was really good last year and aubergines. I didn’t know that a courguette grew into a marrow when you let it go too far but my neighbour takes them and stores them. I thought about taking a plot on before I retired but then I took early redundancy so it seemed like the right time.”

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Mandy Johnson, Highland Road Allotments, Coventry. Plot taken on January 2021.

“I’ve been digging up bricks from the ground as well as finding them in the bushes and using them for bed edges. I also dug up a little plastic dinosaur toy! My son has probably dug further than me, I’ve brought him here when he’s been bored and just given him a spade and said “dig a hole!” It was probably about two or three foot deep, he dug it and stood in it and that kept him amused for quite a long time! He normally complains and plays Nintendo Switch. He enjoys it if he’s in the right frame of mind. We put this raised bed in that someone was getting rid of, I need to buy enough compost to fill it. These onions I planted in the winter and covered in fleece to stop them getting too cold, they’re growing alright. They’re a bit bent because the fleece squished them and a few may have been pulled up by birds. These are last year’s parsnips - there’s a pile over there. I didn’t dig all of them up then in the winter the leaves died and I couldn’t remember where they were. They’ve grown legs. These ones aren’t huge but at least they don’t have legs - I’ll take them home and cook them. The artichokes here won’t be ready till June, they’ve been growing for over a year already. It looks like the slugs have gotten to them. It’s no big deal if they don’t make it, I’ll just plant some more. I’ve got garlic and shallots and rogue carrot growing over there, and beetroot which didn’t grow. They’re protected from birds but the slugs can get in. I have different varieties of raspberries which I’m hoping will bear fruit this year, they fruit at different times so I’m hoping for a constant supply - I love raspberries. I’m hoping the onions do alright because all the ones I planted last year died. I’m hoping I can grow carrots that don’t get eaten by stuff under the soil - I need to start planting them now. They’re a lot sweeter when you grow them yourself. I want to grow loads of basil because I’m fed up of buying it from the supermarket and it dying straightaway. It should be easy in the summer as it needs a lot of sun. Here’s my apple tree - it grew two apples last year! And here’s my plum tree which didn’t do anything last year. It at least has green bits on it now which is a good sign. I’m enjoying it but more so now the weather’s getting nicer. I work from home permanently so it’s a nice escape at lunchtimes. I just need to pull my finger out and get some jobs done. You’ve got to learn what works and how to avoid things getting eaten. Like in these beds, I’ve put wool around the edges to tackle the slugs, and eggshells here. But it’s like they have evolved to deal with any kind of deterrent. There are a lot of cats that live nearby with a lady who adopts cats who can’t be rehomed and they are useful for controlling the rat and mouse population… but they poo everywhere!”

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Rose, Fareed, Jonah and Elijah Siddiqui, Sherbourne Valley Allotments, Coventry. Plot taken on February 2022.

Interview with Rose: “I took the plot on by chance. I was over at the Food Union site as I wanted to learn how to start growing stuff and because the gate was locked I had to contact the lady who runs the place. She told me to contact Phil and he said there was a plot available. That one went so he offered to share this one. I just went for it, it was daunting with lots to clear up, but as long as you do it bit by bit it’s fine. It was overgrown because Phil had to have a knee op so he hadn’t been for six months and once we chopped it all down there was quite a lot of plastic and carpet everywhere. I don’t have green fingers but we eat organically and it’s getting quite pricey now. I’ve always wanted to grow my own. I saw your blog about people acquiring allotments and there was one lady who was on the list and didn’t think she’d ever get one but by chance an allotment holder walked by and gave her the contact details. It happened a similar way to me. It depends on the allotments, it’s all about timing too. I’ve always been interested in this but I’ve never pursued it or focused on it. When the pandemic hit and the kids were out of school we really loved it. The first time around, we were doing everything at our own pace and enjoying family. The second time however schools felt like they had to do more and give more work to kids. It was too stressful that way. When they went back we found there were a lot of differences between how far kids had gotten. A lot of kids were just having to catch up so our kids weren’t getting stimulated. It’s not the fault of the school. We took them out to focus on what was important. I think it’s important they learn where their food comes from and that they spend more time with not just us, but different generations. Being on the plot their communication skills with different age groups improved, they’re so confident now. They ask more questions. There’s no urgency here, it’s free flowing. Anything they’re interested in they’ll do and be free to delve in further. They’ll find a snake worm, be engrossed in it then go home and do research on it. They learn more organically and remember it because they found an interest in it. It’s good for them to see I’m willing to learn new things and get things wrong. Before I was more of a tiger mum, trying to get them to get 100% on everything whereas now it’s the opposite - my mindset has completely changed. I’m trying to backtrack and say it’s okay to make mistakes - that’s how you learn. Meeting people, getting tips, and not expecting everything to go the way you want it to is good advice. Yesterday we measured the whole area. I was going to focus on two beds first and intercrop so I’m making the most use out of the bed, but then things keep happening for a reason - I read a lot of information online and sometimes forget it - two trees came down - do you know about Hügelkultur? It’s where you put logs in the ground, building it up so you’re actually making the soil naturally healthy whilst they decompose. It’s a German practice. You make layers of logs, twigs and compost and it looks after itself, retaining moisture levels as well. At the moment I have carrot and beetroot growing. I get it all from the heritage seed rather than the F1 variety. I want to be able to save my own seed and continue cropping through that. I feel like I’m really lucky. Last year was really tough - I lost my dad last year, and one of my closest friends said to me that everything happens for a reason. He used to love growing stuff. Every time I’m here I think about him. It just feels right. I love being around older people here - everyone is so generous with their time. You don’t get that elsewhere.”

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Lucy and Darren Smith, Brownshill Green Road Allotments, Coventry. Plot taken on March 2020.

Lucy: it’s been going pretty good to be fair. I’ve got more into the rhythm of it now - more of a set up from when I first began. I have paths and beds now, it’s been really good. I’ve had some help from my dad but often it’s just to come up and have some space from work. I like to relax up here and get jobs done. I haven’t come as much through winter as there isn’t too much to do. I’ve just become allotment secretary now, I got voted in! So we can start being a bit more on it with everyone. Sometimes they do get neglected during the winter which is fair enough but you can start getting all the beds prepped and ready with manure. There are things you can grow through winter, too. I planted loads of daffodils and forgot where they are! I’ve got onions and garlics here in the raised beds. I’ve done a rotation with the vegetables so they don’t take all the nutrients out of the soil. These beds are getting ready for dad’s veggies that he wants to grow. He has his own area. Darren: It’s still under discussion at the moment. We’re both on shifts so it’s nice to meet here and have a chat. We talk about anything, not just gardening. It depends what mood you’re in, sometimes we just want silence. Lucy: He has some beds and we co-grow in other beds. Darren: I was watching from the edges. I’m not a gardener, I don’t know anything about it. I’m in a factory all day so it’s nice to come here for fresh air. It’s good for me, especially with everything going on. I work for Jag, we’ve seen everything like everyone else has - long term illness and death, mental illness… it’s good that we come out and do something different. Lucy: I’m in a building for 12 hours a day - it’s dark in the morning and dark in the evening so when dad and I do get our chances to come out here it’s nice to be in nature and not behind a desk. I’ve got a pond, I’m holding out for frogspawn but haven’t seen any yet. They come around now but it’s still quite new and maybe I didn’t get in enough greenery, so fingers crossed for next year. There’s a big pond in a park nearby that was put in a couple of years ago so potentially they might come from there. They’re everywhere but here! Some of the pond plants I’ve bought and others grow naturally. I’ll get some more plants and make more nature areas with stacks of logs so there’s places for insects to hide. It might be too open. If you make it they’ll come. Last year I had dragonflies and damselflies - all of the insects, the only thing I didn’t have were the amphibians like frogs and newts. Dragonflies only live a few days. We have a wildflower seed area and get lots of bees for pollination. We’ve stopped on bird feed at the moment because we had a squirrel break into our shed and rip the door off. I’ve tried to fix it but they still get in. They’re like apocalyptic squirrels! Dad’s prioritising on veggies and I like growing flowers. It’ll all work in tandem. Last year I had too much produce and took it into work, making people little grab-bags .There was still too much so some ended up in my compost. We’ll control it a bit more this year with what we’re going to grow. I am literally the allotment person at work - it’s my entire personality now! I love it. Apparently a lot of builders have been looking in the area and using drones to check out areas for new housing. The council own this land so could take it off us. They’ll do a check in October and if it’s not up to standard it could go. That’s why as a committee we have to keep an eye on things. Some people have been here over ten years, and we have loads of new people starting including families and people of different backgrounds.”