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Allotment waiting lists are getting longer, but if you want to save cash by growing your own veg there is another way
Have rising food prices given you an appetite for growing your own fruit and veg? You're not alone. According to a recent Which? report, a quarter of us now grow our own food – and the main motivator is to save money on shopping bills. But what if you want to join the grow-your-own brigade but don't have a garden? It's not easy to create a thriving vegetable patch if you live in a small city-centre flat. In addition, the old standby of taking an allotment is no longer an option for many. More than 86,000 people are on allotment waiting lists in the UK, according to recent figures from the National Society of Allotment & Leisure Gardeners.
These factors are enticing more of us to sign up for one of the free schemes around the country that allow would-be growers to share someone else's garden. Initiatives such as Landshare, which was set up by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, are reporting a surge in interest – the nationwide scheme has more than 63,000 members. There are also many locally run schemes in cities and rural areas that are helping growers connect with nearby garden owners. And it's not just the growers who stand to benefit from the arrangement – both can gain from sharing experience, knowledge and tools. Many garden owners who join are either too elderly or too busy to manage their own plots, and by sharing their garden they don't have to watch it turn into a jungle of weeds. While no money changes hands in garden sharing, those involved often have an agreement to divide up the fruit and veg produced. September is as good a time as any to join as it allows you to get digging and planning for next year's crop.
A trip to the coast
Eleanor Gloster, 34, is a BBC learning project manager and lives with her husband and young daughter in Brighton. She's been sharing a garden in nearby Portslade for two and a half years through the area's Grow Your Neighbour's Own scheme.
Eleanor says: "I grow as much at home as I can to try to save money on food bills, but we live in a flat so it's mainly herbs and salad leaves in window boxes. When I heard about this scheme I was really interested. I had an interview about the kind of growing I wanted to do and got matched up. It's worked so well."
The garden was initially overgrown; the owner was too busy with work commitments to look after it. They now share the planting and watering with two other women and divide the produce, which includes peas, beans, radishes, beetroot, potatoes, rocket, spinach and carrots.
"I didn't know much about gardening but I did a lot of research online and picked it up as I went along," Gloster says. "Things like salad leaves and sweetcorn can be quite expensive, so we make a good saving there. And I keep or swap seeds for the following year to keep costs down."
A Scottish allotment
Cindy Courtillier, 27, and Keith Baker, 32, live in a top-floor flat in Edinburgh city centre. This is their first year of sharing the front garden of Hermann Boyng, a retired German architect. They were matched through the Edinburgh Garden Partners.
"It's very difficult to get an allotment in Edinburgh," says Baker, a researcher in sustainable urban environments at Glasgow Caledonian University. "But we wanted to be self-sufficient and save money long-term on food bills. We spent about £200 on set-up costs, mostly for tools and plants. But we see it as an investment. We'll save money in the future as we don't need to pay rent for an allotment, plus our produce is mainly organic. There are other benefits too – we're in the fresh air and it's good exercise."
Baker and Courtillier, who perfected their skills on a gardening course, grow a variety of produce, including cabbages, beetroot, lettuce, sorrel and artichokes.
"I'd recommend it to anyone," Baker says. "We sometimes sit outside with Hermann and have a cup of tea and share ideas. He's about a 10-minute walk from us and it's great to have somewhere quieter to escape to.
"We would love our own garden one day. But in the meantime this helps reduce our food miles and food bill."
Sharing in Devon
Sue Holmes is a writer from Totnes in Devon. She started garden sharing three years ago after spotting a notice in her local library which was for the garden share scheme run by community-led charity Transition Town Totnes.
Sue says: "I live in a flat with no garden but I've always liked the idea of growing my own fruit and veg. I registered for the scheme as soon as I saw it and got fixed up with a fantastic garden down the road.
"It's about 25 x 18ft and I spend a good deal of time there, especially in summer. I grow all sorts, including strawberries, raspberries, redcurrants, and loganberries, and loads of vegetables: potatoes, beans, salad leaves, red peppers, tomatoes and squash."
Holmes, who takes two-thirds of the produce, leaving a third for garden owner Stephanie Taylor and her family, says the financial savings are quite substantial.
"I live on my pension so money is important and this has saved me a lot of cash. You can have a bit of an initial outlay if you need things such as tools, slug pellets or a water butt – I paid about £25. But since then it's cost virtually nothing. I'm usually given seeds and cuttings for birthdays and Christmas."
Address book
LandshareNationwide scheme where users from anywhere in the UK can search for a match online. The website features forums and blogs with advice and inspiration for growers.
Grow Your Neighbour's OwnScheme for Brighton and Hove. There's also a "veg doctor" on hand to offer green-fingered advice. 01273 431700
Edinburgh Garden PartnersGarden share scheme for anyone based in Edinburgh.
GardenshareA scheme created for the town of Totnes, Devon. 01803 867358
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