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Garden Organic

Hoeing plot of saag

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gardenorganic

Sowing new Seeds

People we work with

Vincent has been growing all his life – he grew up on a farm in Jamaica where he helped his father grow all their own food.

Since 1977, Vincent has worked his allotment on the St Anne's site in Nottingham, where he grows an enormously productive Jamaican variety of callaloo in his greenhouses, along with grapes, chillies and tomatoes. Outside he grows scallions, spinach, pumpkins and red peas, as he calls runner beans.

"It's all peaceful here," says Vincent. "It's a different world once you close that gate. I'm up my garden all the time in the summer: see the sun come up and all the birds singing. Nothing beats that."

Liam and JoelLuke and Jonah Luke and Jonah are members of a group of Ethiopian refugees who have started growing their own vegetables on Rancliffe Road allotments in Leicester, assisted by Paul Howgill from Groundwork.

They have lots of experience in growing vegetables in the tropics, but find the colder climate and uncertain summers in the UK a challenge – as is a whole range of cold-tolerant crops!

Jonah was especially pleased to find a fellow plot holder growing a familiar food. From Zimbabwe, this type of African kale is propagated by cuttings, not from seed. The grower has generously donated cuttings to Jonah and the group.

This season Luke and Jonah are growing turnips, salads and potatoes, cucumbers and marrows. Next year they hope to grow onions, garlic and spinach, as well as some calallo from the Uplands allotment site.

Kim LeeJiaJia has had her allotment at Markfield near Leicester for two years, but she's always enjoyed growing her own food. She and her sisters used to help their mother in Hong Kong. They still keep in touch, swapping seeds and exchanging gardening tips.

Jia grows a range of oriental brassicas including gai lin, mustards and pak choi. She also grows shark fin melons, goji berries, stem lettuce, Hokkaido pumpkins and black-fleshed potatoes from Hong Kong.

"This year my gai lin has had really big fat stems!" exclaims Jia. "I've never grown it so well before – nor has my sister and she's been growing it for years."

 

Some names have been changed to protect identities.


Vincent