Page 31 - Allotment Gardener Issue 2 2024

HOW PRODUCTIVE
CAN AN ALLOTMENT BE?
This was a question I asked myself back in 2022 when exploring the world of small-scale self-sufficiency. I knew allotments could of course grow lots of food, but I struggled to find examples and data that looked at ways of growing which maximises efficiency and prioritised taste.
these yields. The first, and most significant, was implementing succession planting. As soon as one crop was finished, I had seedlings in pots and modules ready to be planted out in that very space. The second was being careful with what varieties and crops I chose to grow. I
chose varieties that were reliable, and wherever possible, were a higher-yielding or more efficient version. One example was mangetout instead of garden peas; you get to eat the whole pods and also save a lot of time by not having to pod peas.
Whilst growing as much food from your garden is a fantastic goal, you want to make sure that the garden works for you in as many ways as possible. Grow the things you enjoy eating, create a nice little area to enjoy a cuppa, grow plants for colour and pollinators. Allow the allotment to be an extension of your personality and let your curiosity guide your decisions.
Huw Richards
With this in mind, I recruited my friend and professional chef, Sam Cooper, to join in on
a challenge where we initially set out to grow 365kg of food from a half-size allotment plot over a year. Our idea was that we could enjoy an equivalent of 1kg of food (or 6 of your 5 a day for 2 adults) every single day of the year. Sam has written a fantastic chapter on how to use these harvests, including preserving techniques, every way to cook each crop, and how best
to add value to the crops you grow. We also decided a half-size plot was best due to many allotment sites across the country dividing the original plot into half, or even quarters.
We started the garden in March 2023, and in just under 200 days from the start, we hit 365kg of produce. The garden went on to
produce over 580kg in its first year, shared across 50 different edible crops. If you want a value comparison to the equivalent of what this total yield and range would cost in Waitrose, the garden produced just over £2,900 worth of food. Not to mention homegrown food is much tastier!
One of the most interesting findings was the average yield of food per square metre
of growing space. Ours came to just over
8kg, or 100 portions, per square metre! This average includes far lower-yielding crops such as soft fruit and perennial herbs. If you want
to estimate just how much your plot could produce, work out the area of growing space in metres and times it by 8!
There are two core elements that led to
“If you want a value comparison to the equivalent of what this total yield and range would cost in Waitrose, the garden produced just over £2,900 worth of food”
If you want a month-by-month guide
to help you get the most out of your plot this year and beyond, get a copy
of The Self-Sufficiency Garden by Huw Richards and Sam Cooper published by DK. You can pick and choose what you wish to implement, and it is packed with practical ideas and information.
Allotment Gardener | Issue 2 2024 | 31