Q&A Gloucester allotment
What motivated you to establish the allotment?
The Student Union lease the land from the local Council - it was their idea. The motivation to establish it is based on giving students (and staff) a direct perspective of hands-on sustainable living. Translating a difficult-to-define and widely-used term (‘sustainable’) into action! It is a pilot for future University food growth. For me, establishing the Society has been about the above but also a great way of providing an outdoors-focused, healthy activity that welcomes all members of the community, enhances wildlife and also has an educational as well as environmental focus. it ticks alot of boxes basically, especially in an urban setting.
How did you go about getting the land?
Again, the University leased a piece of neglected scrub land from a large local allotment site, which is Council-owned. We had to clear it of brambles and debirs, it was a mess when we arrived. The land was seen as a challenge for most potnetial allotment holders on the waiting list, but we were not phased!
Were any expenses funded directly by students, or did you get any
financial help from the students’ union, etc?
It is an SU Society, so official committee members pay the annual £5 each fee. This goes back into the Society. We secured funding from HEFCE (Higher Education Fynding Council for England). The SU also got us started with some cash - essential for establishment of a shed, tools, equipment and first batch of seeds.
What produce have you grown so far?
Loads…! Ok from memory: Onions, potatoes (23 varieties of samples we got from a local potato fayre in January), courgettes, variety of squashes, shallots, peas, broad beans, runner beans, american beans, strawberries, raspberries, a mature apple tree, plums, we’ve planted 2 young dwarf fruit trees, blackcurrent, kale, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, sweetcorn and currently butternut squash and pumpkins. We trialed alot this year to see what works well.
Is there any advice that you could give to students who would like to establish their own allotment, or anything that you wished you have known when you started out?
A tight-knit enthusastic and committed group of students are essential - we have a committee of 3 - all postgrads & uni staff, and regular volunteers besides. Also, myself & another member coordinate setting up workshops, publicity and the financial aspects, so you need someone who is keen to do the people-facing more administrative tasks. The summer months are the most productive for food, so it is good to have enough people committed to water and tend the plot over the sumemr holidays and easter - and also enough to harvest the food from June-October! Plan your use of the land carefully, we got rather over run with veg and also in wetter period the weeds got very out of hand quickly - so it can be alot of work if you haven’t enough helpers! We are thinking a polytunnel may be good to extend the season a bit.
Either way though, you learn together - part of the fun, but people definitely hold it - if they are’t keen enough, it won’t be sustainable.
