My Plot (John)

If you want fresh veg for your Sunday dinner you need look no further than John’s allotment. Leeks, turnips, cabbage and sprouts are ready for harvesting, onions and garlic are laid out to dry in the shed, and John is in the process of unearthing a family of potatoes from the compost heap.

John has had his plot for around 15 years. Like most of us, he has worked long and hard to clear the perennial weeds and is still waging war against mare’s tail. His next project is to clear accumulated broken glass and scrap metal from the site of the old shed.

Like all organic gardeners, he has a firm belief in the power of home-made compost – ‘black gold’ – and already has plans for a compost heap extension. There is a barrel of home-made fertiliser (manure soaking in water) ready for 2010’s tomatoes and onions.

John’s pride and joy is his polytunnel, which he has had for two years and reckons is superior to a greenhouse because it won’t break in the wind. So far it has yielded red and green peppers, three different varieties of tomato, two different varieties of cucumber, lettuce and winter cauliflower.

The peace and quiet, and absence of loud music, is one of the aspects of allotment life which John appreciates the most, and like many gardeners he comes here for relaxation. Along with others on the site, he feels that the new fence has made a big difference to security, though he says he would like to see more activity on the upper part of the site.