Celebrating allotments

This year, we are Plotting for the Future and celebrating the contribution that allotments make to a sustainable future, by being economical with resources, caring for the land and supporting a balanced ecosystem.

We would like to take this opportunity to applaud all those gardeners and plotholders who: recycle and re-use throw away items; support bio-diversity and feed the soil; share their food growing knowledge with others; make compost and mulch the soil, harvest rainwater and have reduced pesticide and herbicide use.

We would also like to mention the Plotters of the Future, young people who visit the plot with their parents or school group.

These children will have planted seeds and watch a crop develop and are much more likely to do well at school, establish healthy eating habits and care for the environment in the future.

The young growers who have got in touch with us here at the National Allotment Society have shown such dedication and enthusiasm – excited by the food growing skills they have acquired and their knowledge of the natural world.

Another round of applause goes to those councils creating or promoting new sites to cater for the present increase in demand for plots and the far-sighted housebuilding companies creating allotments along with new housing developments.

Our society is the only national organisation which campaigns for the rights of allotment holders across the UK; protecting, promoting and preserving allotments for all. Diane Appleyard, National Allotment Society.