We’ve been lucky enough to have a plot at St Margaret’s Allotments since 2019, when our boys were just 2 and 4. We started off with a quarter before moving to our current half about 4 years ago.
Allotmenting is very much part of family life and it’s great to be able to let the boys roam around, play or help out with the gardening – and the eating at harvest time! Over to the boys for the questions…
What’s your earliest gardening memory?
George: my earliest memory is growing sweetcorn for my Beavers badge all by myself.
James: I can remember eating raspberries and keeping them all for me and my brother and running away from my mum and dad.
What does a perfect day on the allotment look like to you?
We like it when it’s sunny and we’re eating all of the raspberries we’ve grown. We also love playing at the allotments. We like to take our walkie talkies and play on the Common Plot.
What’s your favourite crop/plant to grow and why?
We love to grow sweetcorn, pumpkins, raspberries and strawberries. We have corn on the cob at home but most of the time we eat the raspberries when we’re at the plot.
What can you tell us about encouraging wildlife to your plot?
We’ve made a bug hotel called Bugingham Palace so animals can live there. We also plant lots of flowers for bees and other insects.
Describe the best view or moment you’ve experienced on your plot this year.
We’re recording the birds we see and hear at the allotments each week this year. When we first started we saw a firecrest in the hedge. They’re rare so that was exciting.
If you could only grow one crop to feed you, which one would it be?
We think potatoes, although it would be quite boring to only eat potatoes. We do like digging them up though – it’s like finding treasure.
Are you doing anything on your plot to deal with extreme weather, like drought?
We collect water in our water butts and when there is woodchip at the entrance we collect it and spread it on our beds to keep water in and stop weeds growing. We carried 60 buckets of woodchip once.
Which tool do you most like to use and why?
We think our dad would say the best tool he has are his grape snippers. He spends ages in the greenhouse cutting individual grapes off the bunches to make them grow juicer. It’s his favourite job!
Tell us more about what you grow in your greenhouse.
We have a grape vine in our greenhouse and every year we pick all of the grapes and take them home. Our dad is trying to make wine, but so far he says it hasn’t tasted very nice. We’re also trying to grow apricots and cherries.
What, for you, is the meaning of being a plot holder of St. Margaret’s Allotments?
It’s really nice to go to the allotments because there is lots of space to play and you can see the Cathedral. Sometimes we spend all day there and we have a picnic and snacks to eat. We also like making scarecrows for the open day.
editor’s note: Thank you to James and George for providing such great insights into how much fun allotmenting can be for kids. Credit also to mum Elizabeth for growing some of the prettiest flowers for all to enjoy when walking past their plot.