This article is courtesy of Stephen Watts aka Maxsalad. He grows in Sheffield, England and is into organic growing, sustainable living and even writes poetry.
Everyone has a right to work a bit of land to grow their own food. Although one allotment won’t produce even close to enough food for personal self sufficiency it is surprising how much it can produce, and due to the quality of the produce they are capable of producing, they hold a huge health value for those people living in the city.
Grow Your Own Food
There are so many reasons why I think people should grow some of their own food. Here are just a few:
There’s the immediate benefit of fresh produce full of wonderful flavour. Apart from the pleasure of eating such food, organic food has more life in it (higher vitamin and mineral levels) as well as being free from toxic sprays and additives, and hence nourishes more. This usually shows its self through increased energy levels and less illness. This frees up time which might otherwise be spent resting or recovering from illness to be creative or whatever.
Allotment Benefits
There are immeasurable psychological benefits, through being surrounded by plants and a natural living environment, working seasonally with natural rhythms and cycles, connecting to the earth and beautiful surroundings (an ancient need –just think of all the people who go for walks in the country).
Fresher air (think of the increase in breath related problems over the last few decades),
Physical exercise (which again has had whole books praising the subject) which can be approached on what ever level you are capable of (beds can be created on allotments for wheelchair access),
Ecological benefits (a huge subject, especially nowadays….) stemming from fewer “food miles” (small looped systems), less packaging, less reliance on medicine and the health service in general, healthier soils (provided you follow basic organic compost methods…) which in turn means more living organisms in the soil and general life in the environment.
Growing Your Own Food
I believe that, as humans living on planet earth, close access to a place where local organic food is grown gives people a sense of security and communal identity, in the recognition of a shared need.
We project our thoughts into our environment. All destruction of the environment comes from perceiving ourselves as separate from our environment
Allotment Information
- Allotment & Garden Paths
- Allotment Growing as You Get Older
- Allotment History – A Brief History of Allotments in the UK
- Allotment History – Cultivating a 19th Century Allotment by Dr Lesley Acton MA Ph.D
- Allotment History – The First Allotments by Dr Lesley Acton MA Ph.D
- Allotment Journey – A Step to Sustainable Living
- Allotment Regeneration – Case Study
- Allotments & Children
- Allotments & The Law – Legal Aspects of An Allotment
- Allotments – Some Tips to Get You Started
- Clearing a New Allotment or Vegetable Plot
- Cuban Vegetable Growing Practices can Benefit your Allotments
- Designing an Accessible Allotment for All
- Finding an Allotment – How to Find an Allotment
- Health and Safety in the Allotment & Garden
- Here is How Having and Maintaining a Back Garden Allotment Could Help You to Sell Your Home
- How to Create a Charming Sitting Area in Your Allotment
- How to Ensure the Security of your Allotment
- How To Pick The Right Shed For Your Allotment
- How to reduce the costs of running your allotment
- How University Allotments Promote Sustainability and Community
- Improving Security on Allotments to combat Vandalism and Theft
- The Allotment – The City Dwellers bit of Country
- Vacant Allotment Plots – What To Do With Them?
- Why People Grow Our Own – Our Plots
- You Have a New Allotment!
