GROWING ON THE WEB

Have you always grown your own produce? Did you have any family influences or were you the first in your family to take the plunge?

I have always been interested in gardening and growing my own vegetables and flowers. This came from an early age, with my maternal grandparents and their garden. I can vividly remember the long garden at my nan and grandad’s house, which had fruit and vegetables growing, and the summers spent podding peas whilst sat on the back steps.

“The online searches didn’t really offer what I wanted and the grow your own Facebook groups were all about just the growing”

I came to gardening myself, initially, after the death of my grandparents and had a small vegetable garden behind the cottage I rented in my 20s. As a result of work and further study I stepped away from this for a few years, before finally getting my own allotment in 2014. It was a way to grow food, due to a need to be frugal, but I also discovered the accidental side effect that it was so relaxing and calming. A real sense of space for mind and spirit.

What first made you take to social media to share your recipes?

When I first started Allotment Cooks back in 2015, I did so as at the time finding and sourcing what seemed like achievable and ‘mere mortal’ recipes for own grown produce and real seasonal produce was actually quite difficult. The online searches didn’t really offer what I wanted and the grow