Welcome to Big Tree Allotments
Gardeners and allotmenteers alike understand that they are all subject to a higher power that controls the sunshine and rain, bowing in deference as they plant their leeks, battle the pests and diseases and harvest the bounty of the earth. Gardening is a leisurely occupation, a great ‘leveller’ and no respecter of persons – we all garden under the same sky. It encourages sharing, helpfulness, friendliness, understanding, compassion and laughter; qualities so lacking in much of the modern world.
Some dig to break the shackles of supermarkets who dominate their food supply, or simply for the satisfaction of ‘growing your own’. Either way it’s the perfect stress busting antidote to a modern life spent staring at a computer screen, or stuck in a traffic jam.
Whatever the motivation, most allotmenteers speak of the liberation of being on their own plot where constraints are few and opportunities for self expression are great. They grow their favourite vegetables, experiment without fear of failure, dig deep holes and it can be as neat or rough cut as their hearts desire. In an increasingly homogenized world, allotments are packed with personalities and the individual reigns supreme. Most people describe allotment life as a tonic to revive their physical and mental health.
It’s great for children also. Often the children can’t believe what they are seeing, many of them think that vegetables come from a supermarket; they’ve never seen them engrained with soil before and are almost afraid to touch them. As someone once said to me, “teach the young to respect nature and we can’t go far wrong”. The children are the allotmenteers of the future.