Growing veg offers more than sustenance for some, be it a means to connect with their country of birth, or a way to recreate flavours enjoyed overseas. Here I speak to growers – for businesses and at home – about why they got into it and what it means to grow your own.
1 THE ALLOTMENT HOLDER
Balbir Currie is a vegetable grower living in Budleigh, Worcestershire, where she has an allotment. Originally from East Africa, she is a retired teacher and manager.
“I was born in East Africa; my father was a farmer and came from India. There were 10 of us– four brothers and six sisters. My dad always grew things and I was the only one in the family interested in what he was growing and how he did it.
“I came to the UK when I was 15, 58 years ago. I’ve grown all sorts of vegetables. Things like courgettes, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, aubergines, chillies, coriander, lablab beans (or hyacinth beans) – they taste
