Allotment advice with Jenny
Jenny Winnard, a registered NHS mental health nurse from Wigan, fell into gardening by accident when her husband Phil put their names down for the local Allotment Society waiting list. Fast forward a few years and Jenny’s endless efforts to create a thriving fruit and vegetable crop has seen her take home the Plant to Plate title in our Not Your Average Gardener Awards
Knowing this hobby would benefit the family’s physical and mental health, Jenny, Phil and 13-year-old daughter April made this allotment a family affair, spending countless summer nights and weekends tending to their much-loved garden space
Growing their own produce gives the Winnard family the chance to escape from their daily lives, whether that’s growing a crop from seed, experimenting with an exotic vegetable they’ve never seen in the supermarket before or spend time with their flock of chickens
Jenny shares some advice for those thinking about getting their own allotment, or looking to grow fresh produce at home, on the windowsill or balcony:
Growing your own produce can be scaled up or down depending on your garden space. Before we got the allotment we liked to experiment with herbs on our windowsill to add to recipes and grow tomatoes in pots outside. For me, that’s the best thing about gardening, it is so inclusive – you can do it anywhere
We started by looking in our fridge and seeing what we regularly eat as a family. We focussed on that first before getting adventurous with new or unusual varieties
Start by picking a pack of seeds, pop them in the soil and see what happens, once you feel confident in growing produce you can start propagating crops you already have or save seeds from your produce to make more
Growing your own fruit and vegetables can be really rewarding, cost effective and kind to the planet. We manage to not only enrich our lives with our allotment space but keep the fridge filled to the brim with organic, freshly-grown produce that we harvest as and when we need to
If you have children, get them involved from day one. April has her own raised strawberry bed at the allotment which has been a great way to teach her responsibility. She is invested in seeing how the strawberries turn out and regularly comes with Phil and I to look after the bed and, of course, sample the harvest!
Growing your own produce has boomed in popularity over the past few years, with families looking at ways they can spend more time outdoors and reduce their food shopping bills. If you are looking to get started but not sure where to begin, hopefully Jenny has inspired you to give this hobby a go
For advice on what crops might grow best in your garden space, head along to your nearest store and speak to one of our horticultural experts
