293kg? That’s a LOT of freshly grown vegetables…
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It’s National Allotments Week and the theme for this year is wellbeing – something that is really important to us across all of our services in Greater Manchester and Lancashire.
Being outside in the fresh air and surrounded by nature is great for both physical and mental health and wellbeing, and can be very tasty too…
Did you know, for example, that this year the community at our Lalley allotment has grown 292kg of vegetables?
The produce grown supplies our food pantry which is less than 100 metres away and local people regularly enjoy the delicious, organic harvest.
Here Raddon from the Lalley team tells us more about what’s been going on in recent months…
This national allotment week we’re reflecting on how our community allotment at the Lalley centre positively impacts local people.
Each week during term-time we welcome a group from the Manchester-based support charity Back on Track for a session focussed on boosting wellbeing through connecting to nature whilst socialising with others.
As well as helping take care of the vegetables and flowers, we’ve done plant identification walks, creative writing outdoors and our summer pizza party using vegetables grown by the group.
These sessions aren’t just a nice-to-have, they can really have a positive impact on people’s lives by providing space to relax from other pressures in a social setting and learn new skills.
Two comments from attendees recently summed this up for us:
“I felt really productive after harvesting cabbages, and chatting with everyone really cheered me up. It’s really nice to gather at the end and weigh the vegetables that have been harvested that day.”
“It’s brought me out of my shell, I’ve come on leaps and bounds since I started. I always look forward to coming to the allotment.”
Another key part of how our site boosts health and wellbeing is that the majority of vegetables harvested supply our community food pantry, around 100 metres away.
Here, people who need support getting food for themselves and their families can access a range of fresh and long-life items, with our produce as an optional extra.
It’s brilliant to see nearly all the veg being taken each week, and to have had some great comments on the taste and how people use it:
“You grow one of my favourite vegetables I cannot find easily in the shops. Whenever you have it in the pantry I’ve been using it to make a special dish from my home country.”
“These tomatoes from the allotment so delicious, they are taking me straight back to when I used to grow my own in Cameroon. Thank you for reminding me of home!”
As well as working with adults, we also welcome many different groups of children and young people to the allotment.
This gives those growing up in the city the chance to learn about where food comes from and to produce food in a nature-friendly way, including making compost and tasting lots of new fresh vegetables.
Pupils from our local primary school visit each day to compost their canteen food waste and sing the Caritas Compost Song.
They’ve also had their own plot to grow produce to sell at an event on Market Street this season.
So far this year we’ve hosted more than 200 children from different schools on the site, giving many of them their first chance to see what vegetables look like when still in the ground, whilst getting their hands muddy with planting and harvesting.
This helps foster a stronger connection to each other, healthy food and the outdoors, all of which are important for wellbeing at any stage of life.
One final highlight for us this year has been bringing the community together at our allotment summer party in July, which saw 114 people visit the site to harvest vegetables, make pizza using the outdoor oven, play games and listen to live music.
We feel events like this can really boost both individual and collective wellbeing in the community and are keen to run more, so look out for these on our social media and news pages.
As one visitor on the day said:
“Walking through all this greenery and listening to folk music is a therapy I need that I didn’t know I even wanted.”
So, if you live in Manchester and would like to get involved, do drop in for an open session on Mondays from 10:30am to 1pm, Thursdays from 1:30pm to 4pm and Fridays from 2pm to 4pm.
If it’s your first time, please just contact us on lalleycentre@caritassalford.org.uk or ring 0161 205 2754 to confirm the session you want to attend.
If you’re ready to take on a new commitment, you can also take on some responsibility for growing on the site and welcoming other visitors by signing up as a volunteer.
We’d love to have your help.
