Andy did most of his gardening at his allotment. For those not familiar, allotments are tracts of land, generally owned by the local council that people can rent for a nominal sum. Andy’s allotment was surrounded by people growing vegetables but some kept chickens, one guy kept budgerigars and seven were pigeon fanciers. Essentially, these were community gardens where people could carry out their hobbies and get to know each other in the process. Non gardeners would often walk through the allotments just in the hope of meeting a friendly soul for a bit of crack.
Of course, in recent years there has been an uptick in the number of “custom” community gardens. On our 2023 tour of the North we visited a great community garden in Sunderland, aptly named “Just let your soul grow”. A wonderful space, curated by the wonderful Jen and encouraged by her side kick,Phil (pictured above). – that stimulates loads of community activities. Encouraging children to garden, be aware of nature, a place for mothers and toddlers to meet,seniors to find companionship and even partake some light exercise and so forth.
Both ends of the age spectrum having fun
Pictures tell the story.
Curator Jen with side kick Phil.
In a world where strife, economics, politics, natural and man made disasters seem to grab the news headlines, it is refreshing to come across 2 highly motivated individuals who work to enrich the lives of their neighbours. Also the value of gardening stretches way beyond growing a few flowers or veg. I guess the message is to support your local community garden.
AndAllenGarden 