Why Getting an Allotment is Good For You

One of the greatest pleasures I used to enjoy as a six-year-old was helping my uncle with the gardening. He used to grow potatoes, carrots, runner beans, squashes and coriander.

It was fun watching the crops grow from seedling into fully grown mature plants. My uncle was a hard worker, patient with nature and extraordinarily compassionate with his plants.

Fast forward to my early 30s. My parents bought a new house in Leicester with reasonable-sized garden lawn. Although my mum was keen on growing some crops, she didn’t know where to start. So I dug up some of the lawn and we planted a dozen seed potatoes.

A few months later, we took some of the potatoes out. My mum added them to a curry dish. Her cooking was pretty amazing as it was, but the potato was beyond delicious. 

I had a couple of questions. How on earth did I survive on supermarket potatoes all these years when homegrown, organic potatoes tasted so good? In fact, how did I not notice that the potatoes we were buying were so bland and boring?

The seed was sown for me to grow my crops in the future. Excuse the pun.

Of course, life gets in the way. Humans make plans. God laughs!

Fast forward to 2021, when I moved in with my partner to our new home in a remote village in the centre of England. One of my attractions to our new house was the garden. I also looked on the village website and found that they had allotments.

I sent an email to the clerk, but had no joy. All the allotments were taken. We would have to stick to our garden only.

On the first day we moved to the area, my partner and I went for a walk on one of the  country roads nearby. After about 100 yards, I thought I spotted a man working on a different plot to the one I was looking for. I asked him if we could take a peek at the plot.

It was a small one, yet lush with the fruits and vegetables they'd grown. Turned out one of the three allotments had just become available right. Would we be interested in it?

He didn't need to hesitate.

Eddie, our plot manager, helped us get things moving. Within a couple of days, we were the proud owners of our own allotment. How much did it cost?

£13 (approximately 18 US dollars a year!!

That night, the plans for the allotment began. Soon enough, we began clearing up the weeds that had accumulated.  

A couple of weeks later, Eddie comes knocking on our door. He asked if we were still interested in the other plot, which is twice the size of a first one. We visited the plot, and with little hesitation, We enthusiastically accepted the challenge of taking on this plot as well.

Why the passion for gardening?

Mother Nature provides the cures for all the ills of the world. Food is thy medicine, and thy medicine is food. So said Hippocrates.

However, over the generations, we have resorted to mass farming methods that have depleted the soils, distorted the genetics of plants and animals, and poisoned most of the foods that we purchase in the marketplace.

I want to change that for the world. The only way to do this is to begin by changing it for my family and myself. I hope we inspire others to take responsibility for their own medicine through our actions and our inspirational messages.

I know this much. 

If one person took responsibility for growing his or her family's food requirements, then not only will they save their hard-earned cash, they would stay far more healthier than the average family in their country. 

Furthermore, critically important, we would have collectively preserved the integrity of our planet. As a healer, health coach and spiritual teacher, the best advice I can give anybody who wishes to enjoy better health is through preventative measures. 

Growing your food naturally does that. 

If you want to heal yourself from chronic health conditions, then all the medicine you need may just be in your garden. Start cultivating today!