August 8-14 is National Allotment Week and this year’s theme is Bugs, Bees and Broccoli with a focus on raising awareness of the benefits that bugs and other insects bring to gardens and allotments.
The awareness week was started by the National Allotment Society to highlight how allotments play an important part in people’s lives. They are a place to escape to, to plant and grow and a place of calm. Working one is also a chance to be part of a community of like-minded people sharing a common interest. Talking to the people in Rye Harbour who have allotments you realise that there is lots of sharing going on. Sharing of ideas, of seeds and produce.
Growing things is good for your mental health. Plants do not judge; gardening is great exercise; it encourages us to live in the moment and it is therapeutic. Growing plants gives us something to nurture and care for.
Holly Elizabeth knows first hand just how important owning an allotment can be. In 2017 she lost her lovely son, Bear, at just ten weeks old and she was able to find solace in growing things. It seemed to her to be a part of redressing the balance. It was good to leave the house which was so full of memories of Bear and at the allotment she was able to think about him and it gave her some peace. The pain of course never goes away but growing things helps. Tragedy struck again three years later when her lovely mother contracted cancer and succumbed to the ugly disease. Everyone knew Julie round the village and she played such a big part in Holly’s life. She was her rock. Once again Holly found being at the allotment helped. Her children would spend hours with her and their antics often made her laugh. Sometimes she would lose a whole crop in an afternoon as they munched their way through the cucumbers, carrots and peas.
Holly’s allotment is spectacular: one fellow allotmenter said that it’s the tops. She has grown different crops over the years but specialised in flowers this year, especially dahlias.
I sat with Holly this afternoon, July 9, at her tranquil plot and she told me that what she loved about each new year was the fact that she was given the chance of having a blank canvas at the allotments. Looking after one is creative and no matter what mistakes she made last year, this one was a new start. She said that it took her four years to master the art of a great beetroot. She is not daunted by anything and observes that mistakes just make you look for different solutions. She loves growing everlasting flowers. I thought it must have been something she had always wanted to try but in typical Holly style she said no, she was given a free packet with a magazine. She is now totally hooked and grows a wide variety with a beautiful range of colours.
Holly sits sometimes at the allotments on her own, not often admittedly, but when she does she just loves the silence. She finds it healing sitting surrounded by all that she has grown.
Image Credits: Holly Elizabeth , Kt bruce .