The story of our allotment by David Hill and Yvonne Pickwick

The way I got hold of the allotment was by chance. My foster daughter took on 2 plots in 2014 but as her family increased, she had less time to devote to them and wanted to give them up. We stepped in and took them over  and haven’t looked back. With hard work and lots of cups of tea, we’ve persevered and have managed to get it ticking along nicely.

COVID changed everything overnight! Suddenly we were in bubbles and only allowed out for short periods every day. Fortunately, allotments were allowed so we spent as much time as we could over there. It was a life saver!

Work at David’s Garden centre stopped so we had to adapt to a new regime and had much more time to spend at the allotment: making new raised beds, wheelbarrowing  wood chip for mulch or paths, collecting logs, planting, weeding harvesting and many more jobs. We got a new shed  so now we had somewhere to sit for a cuppa!

Getting the tea hamper ready was David’s special job. He was responsible for topping up the tea bags and coffee, getting the biscuits, fresh milk and flasks of hot water and making sure the cups were clean and ready to use. The thought of a nice cup of tea and biscuit after an hour or two of work was a huge incentive in getting us out whatever the weather.

David has his favourite jobs; he’d far rather push a wheelbarrow than do the weeding and he’s very good at picking beans and peas and watering.

Many of us at the allotment site use no chemical fertilisers or pesticides so our produce is organic, delicious, and of course a bit wonky. We have to share our produce with the local animals : deer, foxes, rabbits, rats and mice not to mention slugs and worms! We’ve also spotted slow worms, newts and toads and of course there are lots of birds!

We make our own compost with vegetable peelings from home, grass cuttings and leaves and whatever else is at hand. It makes a wonderful nutritious feed and mulch which gets spread at the end of the year. Using the ‘no-dig’ method doesn’t disturb the network of fungi, microbes, bugs and worms and new layers of hummus get added regularly.

Having an allotment is not just about growing produce but so much more! Its about being outside in the rain and sun, companionship, working hard, and being close to nature! It’s a great place to escape and you never know quite what to expect in each season.

David has played an integral part in everything we’ve done at the allotment and can be very proud  of his achievements there.

Yvonne and David are part of Hillingdon Shared Lives.