It's June and allotments are starting to come into their own. Last night we picked - and ate shortly afterwards - turnips, green mustard and red, rocket, lettuce, onion, radishes and strawberries. With the exception of the strawberries, which need a few more days to be at their best, nothing available from supermarkets comes anywhere close in terms of flavour.
When people say lettuce has no flavour you know they don't grow it. A fresh cos lettuce washed and on the plate an hour after picking is crisp, but more importantly it has real tastes in its dark green leaves. Radishes are perhaps the easiest thing there is to grow. Rinsed of soil and crunched with a dusting of salt they again have a fire that uniform and perfectly red supermarket zombie radishes lack.
And only half a food mile, and that on foot. When we started ours three years ago we had the choice of more than 20 plots. There are still a few available, and one where the renter will get a letter shortly asking if they intend to carry on. We expected there to be a waiting list, but obviously there was not. It's worth asking the council, and it is truly worth doing if you enjoy veg, and like me have a mean streak. I reckon we get more than £1,000 woth of fruit and veg off it a year, for the princely rent of £30, and it has to be said a lot of hard but enjoyable work. Give it a go.
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