With frost and snow chilling our bones and then rain pouring down this December with hardly a break, it’s that time of year when lots of people take a break from the practical allotment work and maybe plan what they are going to grow next year. Or maybe you just look back at how you’ve got on this year and think: what went well, and what would I do differently next year on my plot?
Everyone may also have views and ideas about what would help make their whole allotment site better – safer, more convenient, more or better amenities, more resources generally. These would give benefits not just for individual plotholders, but also our families, friends and the wider community.
But major investment is expensive, especially if buildings and site infrastructure has been neglected for years. So it all needs collective action by organisations, rather than just relying on individuals – however hard we try to make a difference through our personal efforts. With Birmingham City Council now having to sort out its finances after declaring bankrupt, it’s time for people on allotments to look for resources elsewhere. Here’s where information and evidence can play a significant role in drawing attention to allotment champions on the sites.
The BDAC (Birmingham and District Allotments Confederation) has started a campaign to raise our profile which includes some research. Called “Make The Case For Allotments In Birmingham”, it will ask plotholders (and their families and helpers) to complete a questionnaire about their experience – what people grow and eat from their plot, how they benefit physically and mentally. It is being organized through Birmingham University and the BDAC with all 113 allotment sites in Birmingham, and you can take part via the BDAC website: https://bdacallotments.co.uk/
The research project is designed to find out vital information about the contribution that allotments and their users make to the health and well-being of the city. Their responses will provide the core data for this study alongside two other surveys, one specifically aimed at site secretaries (site managers) and one targeting biodiversity/environmental benefits. The aim is to use the findings to promote the value of allotments to Birmingham City Council, media and the wider public.
To encourage as many plotholders as possible to take part, the questionnaire is short (10 minutes to complete) and there will be a Prize Draw for all participating – £50 towards plot rentals and other prizes related to gardening such as vouchers to spend in Allotment Shops.
It’s important that there is a good response. The report which comes out of this survey needs to be based on solid evidence from a wide range of people and sites, not just a handful from well-maintained sites in the richer areas of the city. Then we can promote allotments to funding bodies such as the National Lottery Community Fund and Severn Trent Water Authority Fund.
One of the questions asks people to give a weight estimate of their fruit and vegetables grown this year. All that data can then be used to work out how much food we allotment-holders are producing – with a low carbon footprint – to feed our families, friends, neighbours and the community at large. We know that lots of people give their surplus away and it’s much appreciated – it’s tasty as well as organic/free of chemicals
The survey is also to capture the experience of new people who haven’t long started and people with health or mobility problems whose main benefit will be improved well-being and opportunities to destress and ‘commune with nature’. That also is vital information to share with charitable and other trusts whose funding panel members realise the financial and other costs to society of so many people with mental health problems.
So if you read this post and are a plotholder (or helper/family member of a plotholder), get clicking on the link below to start the questionnaire on-line – in English or Urdu. On-line is the easiest way to do it – get someone to help if you’re not confident with on-line forms. OR download and print out the paper version, fill it in and return it to me, Secretary of WEGA Hester Blewitt at Northleigh Road site (postbox at gate, OR use the ‘Contact us’ page on this website to arrange collection). If you don’t have a printer and need a paper copy, also use ‘Contact us’.
The deadline for completing the questionnaire and to be in the prize drawer is 31st December 2023, but do still submit your form after this date.
Complete THE ALLOTMENT SURVEY online
Calculator: How much food did you grow: https://www.omnicalculator.com/biology/vegetable-yield
| Vegetable Yield Calculator – Find Plant Yield The vegetable yield calculator helps you find the crop yield that you’ll get from your garden/farm and also serves as a small farm planner that guides you on the spacing required. www.omnicalculator.com |