Читать книгу The Allotment Book - Andi Clevely - Страница 8

There are numerous compelling reasons to have an allotment. For some people, it is an instinctive and traditional activity, and even in industrialized countries no one is more than a few generations away from working the land. Others feel that manufacturers and processors have systematically destroyed their food culture, and that the only way to ensure a reliable (often affordable) source of favourite fruit and vegetables without chemical intervention is to grow them oneself. And growing crops close to home reduces the environmental cost of ‘food miles’ associated with long-distance transport.

Fresh, good-quality food is not the only essential ingredient of a healthy lifestyle, however. Regular exercise is just as vital, and working in the open air on your own piece of ground can be a more agreeable and productive way of keeping fit than going to the gym. In urban areas, allotments are vital oases of open recreational space, healing places that soothe the spirit and subdue mental stress.

Many welcome the strong, supportive sense of community (although you are equally free to be peacefully alone, if you prefer). Tending a plot can be a shared activity for families, while the wider community of plotholders, uniting gardeners of varied ages, abilities and backgrounds around a shared interest, offers the kind of support, co-operation and tolerance often lacking beyond the site boundary. You can find sanity and sanctuary as well as opportunity on an allotment.