The plot thickens...

We learnt so much from Heinz and Amy from going to their allotment, and we didn’t want you guys to miss out, so here is the full Q and A!

Read it, share it, save it and come back when you’ve got your own allotment!!

Planting potatoes

H and A - “So we got some King Edward potatoes I'm going to plant and to grow potatoes, you plant a potato, so it sprouts and then it grows more potatoes around the root. When you leave a potato in the cupboard and it grows sprouts, that’s it basically trying to grow.

I’ve left these potatoes chitting on my windowsill for a few weeks. When you put them in the light, rather than getting all these long, dangly bits, the potato grows strong growth ready to be planted.”

180 – “So, if I was to plant one that had been in my cupboard would it not work?”

H and A - “No, it probably be fine. But this just means it'll start a bit stronger. I think seed potatoes are apparently less likely to have disease, but you can still be able to go to Tesco’s buy some potatoes there and just plant them.”

180 – “What got you into Gardening?”

H and A - “I was never really into it. I've always been into the outdoors. And then it locked down, I started watching gardener’s world on a Friday. Monty Don absolute icon and then started playing around in the garden. Enjoyed it and then kind of just did bits and bobs. But my mom grew up on a farm. And so maybe it runs in the family a little bit.”

180 – “How did you teach yourself how to essentially grow a whole allotment?”

H and A - “I watched a lot of YouTube videos. And then people around the allotment have been giving me tips. So, like there's a guy, his name is Dinga he's retired. He used to work for the United Nations doing stuff around food and growing. But then he left all of that to become a pastor. He kind of gives me all the top tips because he's like an expert. So, yeah, it's quite a little community. Last year someone had some leftover potatoes, and they gave them to me to grow and then I had some spare whatever and gave to those guys. And so, everyone kind of shares a little bit helps out.”

180 – “what's been like your favourite thing to grow?”

H and A - “Pumpkins! We had butternut squash and then the Crown Prince squashes were so tasty, the sweetest things we've ever had. We planted them in May and then you harvest them around September, so they take quite a while to grow. But they grow quite quickly!

Yeah, and I think I think we've basically just been eating them all winter. We have like two left, I think.”

180 – “Do they last longer than store bought ones?”

H and A - “Potentially, so when you harvest them, you leave them out in the sun for a few days and it hardens skin. And it means that it doesn't rot as easily. So, we've done that and stored them on the windowsills in the light and it's kept really well.”

180 – “What’s it like taste wise?”

H and A - “Yeah, they're way tastier. Everything we've grown ourselves; I mean like the sweet corn is soooo sweet.

The other week we went to some restaurant and had some squash salad. And the butternut tasted like nothing. But I think it's just nice because I know exactly what it's been. I know there's no chemicals in it. Like it's not been in a heated greenhouse or anything like that. It's just from five minutes down the road. And we've kind of been using it as our kitchen. So, if we need to cook something we walk down here pick what we need and then go home and make it which is just quite nice.”

180 –“Does it that mean you've experimented with things that you haven't usually cooked?”

H and A - “Yeah, totally. I'd never cooked an artichoke before until last year. So, the way we've been cooking is by looking at what is in season on the allotment and then planning our meals around that. I think being more connected with the seasonality has been really nice because you're eating what's fresh then.”

180 - “yeah, I think that's a big thing in sustainability as well, it's like what's in season so when you go to the shops like what fruit are you buying that's actually in season and it's being aware of the seasons of what grows when.”

180 – “What's been the toughest thing that you’ve grown?”

H and A - “We've had quite a bit of unsuccess with our carrots, they got carrot fly and we actually lost all of them. Same with our onions, we lost all of them to different pests and stuff. But overall, we've been alright.”

180 – “Have you got guys got any top tips?”

H and A - “If you're going to grow stuff, choose what you do love to eat, like, don't just pick random stuff, because it sounds cool or looks cool, like actually grow the stuff that you're going to eat. Because I think there are a few things that we grew last year, that we never ate loads of, and we probably never will eat later. And, some of that did end up getting a little bit wasted or we'd have to give it away to people, which is also fine. But I guess pick stuff that you really love to eat.

I'd also say don't fight nature, like weeds, weeds are always going to happen. There's always going to be pests and whatever. And don't worry about fertiliser, keep it natural, and it'll be fine. I think I started out last year, wanting it to be pristine and have no weeds anywhere. As I went along, I was like, that's just never never gonna happen. I spent all my time weeding and it doesn't make any difference really to the vegetables. And so, I think just be chill about not having the perfect plot of land.”

180 – “How do you compost?”

H and A - “Yeah, we've got a little compost bin at home. And so, some of it goes in there and goes on our garden. But a lot of it comes down here and

yeah, so like, we don't really throw food waste in the bin we bring it down to our compost at the allotment.

So, we kind of basically just throw everything on there. Any weeds, grass clippings, vegetables or whatever. We pop it all on there. And then we throw like paper on there and cardboard and that sort of stuff. Like egg boxes and stuff.

So, you can throw that on there. And then you just leave it and it kind of does its thing.

And then if you turn it, it can help get some air and then boost the bacteria or whatever. And then it just ends up with nice, nice compost.

And then we kind of spread it over the top of our soil.

So, like there's this gardening thing called no dig. The classic thing is people in their gardens and on allotments will come and dig it, get it all nice and soft. And that's kind of the way it's always been done. But I think there's a bit of a movement towards no dig stuff. If we're trying to emulate nature a little bit more well if you look at a forest for example, the ground is always covered by leaves and stuff and it's super healthy, like ground doesn't necessarily want to be empty and wants to have things growing like that. And so, covering things in compost helps keeps the weeds down but it feeds the soil as well. In the soil you've got fungus that spread throughout soil, and it helps the plant roots as they have a symbiotic relationship with it where the fungus helps the plants find the nutrients and that kind of thing. So, every time you dig over the soil in wrecks all of that and so we try and keep it as like undisturbed as possible.”

180 – “How often do you go?”

H and A - “So, like in the winter, not all in but in spring summer, I probably go, two, three evenings a week. And then like half the day on a Saturday. But I think it's quite nice, because then you can come out and you can like, work on it in the summer months when the weather is nicer. And it's lovely. “

180 – “Has it been cost effective?”

H and A - “Yeh, we have some weeks where we basically don't buy any vegetables from the shop because everything comes from the allotment. Yeah,

And yeh, you rent the allotment but it's 50 pounds a year.

That includes the water, so I found a weed like”

180 - “that’s cheaper than my life”

H and A “yeh, that is effectively a weekly or a couple of weeks’ worth of a food shop. The only added cost is seeds and stuff.

Yeah, but they are actually really quite cheap. Like a packet of seeds is like a couple quid or something. Yeah, that's right. Yeah!

Happy allotment hunting!

Love G and M x