Benefits to having an allotment

Photograph of a garden with lots of green plants and a blue and orange shed

Allotments are important community assets which offer benefits to health and wellbeing, provide sustainable spaces to grow produce and encourage biodiversity. They are known to be an integral part of our heritage, but they can play an important part in our future too.

Chippenham Town Council owns six allotment sites across the town offering around 300 plots to local residents. The sites are managed on our behalf by Chippenham Garden and Allotment Society.

The locations include Cricketts Lane, Deans Way, Hardenhuish Road, Kingsley Road, Ladyfield Road, and Lords Mead

There are so many wonderful benefits to having an allotment, we talked to some of the Chippenham allotment holders to find out what they love about it.

Katherine

Photograph of a boy in a white t shirt holding up a carrot

Katherine

Photograph of a 3 people picking carrots on a sunny day

We love our allotment! We’ve been gardening for 8 years now so our children have been raised with home grown veg and really understand where their food comes from. Our eldest thinks there’s nothing better than the first carrot of the year and he likes growing the spiciest radishes in his plot! I childmind now and take the children with us to sow, plant and harvest and the wonder on their faces is fantastic when they ask “Can we really eat it?”

It is hard work – you’ll find me down there several evenings a week in the growing season, and you do have to keep on top of it so the weeds don’t take over.

This time of year there is always a glut of some vegetables so I become the crazy courgette lady, trying to offload them to anyone who’ll take one! Our favourite recipe is Sweetcorn & Courgette Fritters:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sweetcorn-courgette-fritters

You just can’t beat the flavour of grow-your-own or the feeling of joy it brings!

Martin & Sonia

Photograph of a rectangle of soil with green grass surrounding it and a blue shed in the background

Kingsley Road

Photograph of green plants with wooden sticks

We took up our allotment in March 2024, and we are really made up about it. We were starting behind but were determined to get it going. Our photos show what people can do in a short time. We are already reaping the rewards. Absolutely loving it.

Marian

Photograph of a robin of a dark brown/ red shed outside

Marian

Photograph of a robin with red white and brown

My Allotment is my Little Slice of Heaven.

One of my friends was going through a tough time and I suggested they come to the allotment. I showed them all around the area. After being with me for a while, they said it was like a weight had slowly started to lift.

I’ve made lots of new friends since I’ve had the allotment. Last year with all the produce we were able to help 20 people with fresh vegetables .

I’ve had some robins coming to the allotment, one fed from my hand after weeks of learning to trust me. He and his mate come most times when I am at the allotment and the robin sometimes interacts with the blackbird, taking it in turns to sing. What a wonderful experience for me to witness. If I hadn’t had the allotment I would have missed this experience .

Stephen

Photograph of a a painting which includes colours like grey, white, orange and green

Marian

Photograph of a painting of a farm which includes colours like green, red, brown, blue

I have drawn upon the allotments at Lords Mead as a subject for painting. The first image on the left is an abstracted study, cold and windy. The second on the right is more obviously figurative and I’ve used a bit of artistic license to elevate the site – maybe a bit more like the allotments on Malmesbury Road.

Lesley

Photograph of someone with a handful of strawberries

Marian

Photograph of green plants, a yellow sunflower and pink/purple flowers

I first got my allotment plot in the autumn of 2011, after several years on the waiting list. It’s been an amazing journey and the plot has changed and evolved over the years.

At first it was one big open space and, for the first few years, it seemed very daunting looking after it, digging, rotavating, keeping it weed free and tidy and I admit there were times when it felt like it was a bit too much because of the commitment balanced against work and family life. But the idea of not being able to be at the plot – the wind in my face, soil under my finger nails, surrounded by nature, growing food for my family made me persevere and, after dividing the plot into terraced individual beds ( the plot is sloping) a few years ago, everything became much easier.

That said, having an allotment is still a big commitment and you need to be sure you can spare enough hours in the week to make it work. Over the years I’ve seen many people come and go. Like I did, they arrive full of passion and enthusiasm but soon realise it takes up a lot of your time and is a lot of hard work. It can be frustrating to see well cultivated plots change hands to quickly become covered in waist high weeds as plot holders realise what is involved and just don’t have enough free time due to all of life’s other commitments. There were many times I let my plot get the better of me and keeping on top of it all seemed like such a big mountain to climb that I almost gave it up.

I’m glad I didn’t but, without putting potential allotment holders off, I think it’s important to understand what a big commitment having a plot is.

I refer to my plot to friends and family as ‘my happy place’. I always enjoy being there, no matter what time of the year it is and there is always plenty to do – even in the winter months. I always come home with an ache in my back but a happy heart and my plot has seen me through some difficult times – the death of my parents and the pandemic are good examples.

Having grown up in the countryside with a big garden and a big vegetable patch, living in a town as an adult with a tiny garden can sometimes feel suffocating, so having an allotment is such a privilege and brings so much happiness into my life. The sense of satisfaction when I cook a meal using vegetables I have grown myself is priceless.

If I was asked to give any tips to anyone thinking about taking on an allotment I’d say to make sure you have a lot of free time, be prepared to share your crops with every kind of bug and disease, accept that in the spring and summer your back will ache. Take time at your plot to sit and look and listen – the abundance of nature is incredible. And never put in more than two courgette plants!!

Benefits to having an allotment:

Know where your food comes from and how it has been produced.

You can save money on the weekly shop by growing your own produce

Enhance your social life by making new friends who share the same interests and can share top tips, creating a community who can work together

Encourage children to get involved and learn how to grow food they like to eat

Grow food you like to eat to minimise waste and bulk buying

Allotments offer the opportunity to make habitats for a range of wildlife

Keep your body moving with the digging, raking and general upkeep

Connecting with nature and spending time outside is very beneficial mental wellbeing

Learning new creative recipes using homegrown produce

There is currently a waiting list for all allotment sites, but if you would like to know more about Chippenham Town Council allotments, contact Chippenham Garden & Allotment Society on chippenhamallotments@googlemail.com or visit their website Chippenham Garden & Allotment Society (wordpress.com)