News from the gardening world
Research confirms benefits of allotment gardening, but we do like to complain about the weather, Ian Hodgson discovers
Hobnobbing and socialising with fellow plot holders over a cup of tea ranks as high as growing your own food, new research has found. The findings by the University of Sheffield resulted from diary submissions from around 100 plot holders across England and Wales, who made spontaneous comments about their gardening and social activities, moods and observations over the course of 2018.
While the satisfaction of growing and harvesting fresh food was still the primary purpose and main benefit of allotment ownership, social interactions were a key part of the experience, with expressions varying from “drank a bottle of sparkling apple juice and had a laugh with two fellow allotmenteers”, to “spent too much time talking and not enough gardening. Must do better tomorrow!”.
Sharing surplus produce with others was also an emotional plus, while observing wildlife ranked as a major mood-booster, as long as critters weren’t damaging or nabbing crops. Overall, 70 per cent of observations were positive about the wildlife seen on allotment sites, with some participants mentioning the same animal, such as a frog or fox, a number of times, indicating they were bonding with wildlife in their vicinity.
In time-honoured tradition, almost a quarter of entries discussed the weather, with more than 70 per cent of comments being negative, particularly as the summer drought of 2018 started to seriously impact the crops. Weather was found to significantly influence mood swings from ‘good to be alive’ comments to those of despair as plot-holders battled changing weather patterns.
“Some comments were really heartfelt,” said lead co-researcher Dr Jill Edmondson. “It shows how important communities on allotment sites are to our sense of wellbeing. Research such as this helps scientifically quantify the importance of these spaces to decision makers and, hopefully, helps make the case for expanding allotment sites and community gardens in the future.”