Allotment blogs we love

If you want to know more about growing your own veg, who better to ask than the allotment addicts.

Allotmenteers as they like to be known, are an enthusiastic bunch who spend every spare minute tending their much loved allotments. Through trial and error they have accumulated lots of great gardening advice and knowledge, which they love to share.

What’s more, an increasing number of them are blogging their way from seeding to harvest, so you can see exactly how it’s done and even ask questions.

Take a tour of the finest UK allotments with our hand picked allotment blogs we love, and see if you can find some top tips or inspiration to get your own growing going in 2011.

Real Men Sow
Jono tends to his allotment with his mum Jan, and most of the time she isn’t looking over his shoulder, so he assumes he must be getting the hang of it. His blog would certainly suggest this too and its not just his growing skills that are valuable. His tips on saving money are made free to fellow allotmenteers. Jono has made some money saving Excel sheets, to help you calculate how much you can save by growing your own.

Slow Growing in Scotland
Patience is perhaps the most important virtue for any gardener and when your plot is attacked by pigeons, rabbits and the weather it can be your most valuable asset. This blog documents the trials and tribulations of an allotment in Scotland. Where Linda keeps on tending to her plot no matter what pesky creatures get in her way, come rain or shine. Here you’ll find lots of tips to help you avoid similar pitfalls and be inspired by the enduring enthusiasm of allotmenteering.

The Green Grower
In a bid to break free from the 9 to 5 world of work and a flat without a garden, Steph Jones embraced the beauty and enjoyment of an allotment. The Green Grower documents her journey from her very first day on the allotment. Since then Steph has shared her developments and offers good advice on growing all manner of things. Best of all there are plenty of tasty allotment recipes, including chocolate courgette cake, vegetable spaghetti and plenty of fruity booze.

Allotment Lady Lives Again
Find out how to deal with ‘tons of taters’ as well as getting tips on creating a bountiful fruit cage. Not only does the Allotment Lady cover the harvesting of barrow-loads of pumpkins, but she documents the continuing story of her burgeoning chicken coop. With new additions to the allotment family of the feathered kind arriving regularly, it’s surely only a matter of time until the Allotment lady has as many eggs as she does pumpkins.

Organic Allotment
Here you can learn how to keep it green with natural fertilisers and detailed accounts of organic gardening practices. There are also great ideas to help you out behind the scenes. These include: how to manage a wormery and compost your kitchen waste, profiles on super-foods and tips on ‘table-top gardening’, for the months when you can’t do much on the plot.

Allotment 65
Follow the progress of Allotment 65, from chitting the spuds to harvesting the yield. There’s lots of tasty pleasures along the way including how to make awesome raspberry jam. Keep an eye out for the imminent arrival of chickens, and blossoming beds of foxgloves, sweetpeas and poppies. This sensational assault on the senses make Allotment 65 a lively allotment indeed.

Hazel and Jane’s Allotment
Back in 2006 two friends with horticultural aspirations but no where to grow, signed up to get an allotment. Almost 5 years on they are still going strong and have shared the fruits of their labours in this blog. Amongst all the superb advice on growing, using raised beds and the light-hearted commentary on running an allotment, there are some great tips on making beautiful blackcurrant wine. As a result, this blog is as full of fun as it is veg – just like their allotment.

Our Plot at Green Lane Allotments
This is an extremely comprehensive and obviously much enjoyed blog on allotments, growing, and being an allotmenteer. Check out the weekly illustrated growing diary, the catalogues of advice on all aspects of allotmenteering and excellent advice on planning for the year ahead. This blog helps you find out what allotments are all about, how you can go about getting one and how to get the most out of it. All from a very knowledgeable husband and wife team with over 20 years of allotment experience.

We Grow Our Own
This blogger is just as passionate about how to cook and eat the produce from your allotment, as he is about growing it in the first place. Recently featured on ITV’s ‘Britain’s Best Dish’, Craig McKnight’s enthusiasm shines through his blog posts. They include tips on how to grow your own chillies, what to grow on your plot and how to get the best from your kitchen and allotment. With plenty of recipes and cookbook reviews, We Grow Our Own is a great resource to help you cultivate culinary pleasure from your home grown veg.

Dyke’s Edge Allotment
Craig in Blackpool spends a lot of time on his allotment tending to the fruit trees, vegetables and flowers in his raised beds. So much so he has installed a fantastic looking shed with a small stove. Allowing him to embark on a ‘personal taste testing and trialling of a range of plot snacks’ much to his readers amusement. With plum trees in car tyres and the wildlife around his pond great photos are plentiful. And with the grapevine growing well perhaps there will be some Blackpool wine for his next taste testing trial.

Grow Our Own
This is an allotment blog with a twist. Not only is it an excellent contribution to the sharing of allotmenteering knowledge, but it also demonstrates the psychological benefits of working on allotments. Allotmenteering, this blog argues and displays, can also alleviate the suffering of those with depression and anxiety, including the blog’s author. A personal story of growing, the blog shows the importance of allotments not just for the body but for the mind as well.

Mal’s Allotment
With 15 years experience on an allotment in Edinburgh, Mal has plenty of stories and advice to share. There are also a few tricks up his sleeve, which Mal calls his ‘weapons of mass production’ that will no doubt come in handy. These include the Germinator and the ‘Scud’, involving canny re-use of an old compost bin to force a large patch of rhubarb. As well as his secret weapons there a plenty of more traditional tips, including how to grow asparagus, from its alien looking beginnings to the tasty looking results.

Allotments 4 you
Having written her gardening diaries for 3 years, Tanya’s blog shares her wealth of growing experience and ongoing allotment adventures. Her main aim in doing so is to share the beauty of growing your own fruit, flowers and vegetables, whether you have an allotment or a simple window box. For those with the space for it, be sure to check out her simple guide to making a raised bed. Or if you have less room, enjoy the beauty of a terracotta strawberry planter. Allotments 4 you makes sure there is growing fun for all.

Allotment Heaven
From a rough piece of pasture to two blossoming plots with a shed, a chicken run and a pond. John dazzles us with his wit and wisdom from the Allotment Heaven he has created. Lessons learnt along the path of creating his oasis are shared here in fantastic and thorough guides. Enabling newcomers and old-hands alike to learn a great deal about what, when and how to grow a wide selection of vegetables. Interspersed with photos and videos of numerous family visits to the plot and stories of a mad cockerel; Allotment Heaven is an entertaining and inspiring read for any allotmenteer.

If you have an allotment blog you love that is not mentioned above, please leave a comment.