Juliet took on her Great Shefford Allotment Society plot in April 2022 and hasn’t looked back since…
The Great Shefford Allotment Society has plots available to rent to anyone within 5 miles of the Village Hall. Now is a really good time to prepare the plots and plan for the growing to start when the ground warms up. One plot’s rent is just £20 per year and an annual membership fee of £5 to join the society. For more information see Great Shefford Allotment Society or contact Linda Bowden, 07850 643952.
Growing my own
My two kids have particularly enjoyed helping me at the allotment, especially as they have their own muddy corner to dig up as they please. We’ve also had some encounters with hares and rabbits and the kids gave squeals of joy seeing these wild animals so close.
As for me, I’ve found it a really welcome distraction from the chores in the house and a space to enjoy the outdoors. I thought initially I might struggle to keep on top of it but actually it’s been more the case of little and often. I’ve also managed to save money on our food bill which gives that extra sense of achievement.
My highlights have been managing to grow my own edamame beans which my daughter was beyond excited to eat. Another huge success has been the sweetcorn, which has also proved a big hit with my two little people. It’s so much sweeter than anything you can get in the supermarket and when you’re purchasing packs of 50 seeds for a few pounds it quickly pays off. The kids loved the magic of peeling back the silks to reveal the golden ears of corn.
We’ve also had big success with rainbow beetroot, courgettes, green beans, new potatoes, parsnips, garlic, onions and pumpkins. The kids loved watching the pumpkins grow and then harvesting them ready for Halloween. They were slightly disappointed that I grew green ones as I wanted ones with lots of flavour for cooking – my daughter nearly got the orange paint out…
As we are coming to the end of Winter 2024/25, I’ve been preparing the allotment plot during this quieter time and slowly getting myself ready for the upcoming growing season.
Despite the wet 2024 spring we had a successful harvest of sweetcorn, green beans and as always, lots of courgettes! And I did particularly well with my pumpkins and squashes at the end of the growing season. I got sucked into buying a rather expensive large yellow pumpkin at a pick your own patch by my two children in October 2023. I decided to keep the seeds in the hope of getting my money’s worth and growing some more from it! I washed the seeds and dried them, thought any that took would be a win from that large expenditure! The pumpkins grew into all different shapes and sizes thanks to cross pollination that must have happened to my large yellow pumpkin. They grew well and ripened in good time. It was great as it felt like free carving pumpkins at Halloween for the kids and I made lots of soups and Christmas chutney with them too.
