Grant scheme will really help allotments to thrive
I’ve often been envious of other allotment sites’ facilities and full of admiration for projects taken on by plotters. A communal building can be such a bonus for a site. At Lochaline Allotments there’s one of the sturdiest communal buildings I’ve seen. It’s a log cabin built out of local tree trunks and topped off with a green roof. Back in 1938, AK Bell of Bell’s Whisky funded a beautiful building for Perth Working Men’s Gardens on Moncrieffe Island, still in use today.
It’s a few years since I admired Yewtree Allotments at Town Yetholm where their home-made innovative water harvesting system frees them from the expense of water rates. Several allotment sites have installed solar panels, enabling their communal buildings to have some light and heat. Others have good outdoor cooking facilities such as barbecues and pizza ovens. A pool of tools can be useful. There’s no point in individuals buying expensive cultivators, shredders and strimmers when they are only used infrequently. It’s better by far to share them.
Of course all projects cost money for materials even if the labour comes free. I am pleased that the Scottish Government has recently opened its Community Growing Fund (www. gov.scot/publications/communitygrowing-fund-2019-2020) to help make Scotland a Good Food Nation. Grants of up to £3,000 are available to properly constituted organisations.
There’s a long list of the kinds of goods, activities or services which can be funded. Several items caught my attention. They will pay for plant stock and saplings. A quarter of a century ago allotmenteers on
Ullapoolallotmentsarein abeautifulsituationbut thereisnodepthofsoil
my site planted a hedge of native prickly plants to supplement the chain link fence which frequently got vandalised. It’s paid off. Today, these are well-grown and in addition to fulfilling their original purpose they provide splendid habitats for beneficial wildlife. I admired the Sandown site in Nairn where a strip of attractive orchard trees screens the site from neighbouring houses.
The Community Growing Fund can help towards buying topsoil. Most sites are on workable soil but there are others where soil is scanty. A grant towards buying topsoil could make a big difference. Ullapool allotments are in a beautiful situation overlooking Loch Broom, but there is no depth of soil. The bedrock is just a few centimetres below the surface. They rely on homemade compost. Finally, the fund can help towards community educational classes such as growing, harvesting and composting.
Time is short as applications must be submitted by the end of March. n