Reaping the reward of working the land

10:30am Friday 18th July 2008

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FROM marigolds to methi, cho-cho to carrots, Higham Hill Common Allotments are growing it all.

And with plotholders of every age and ability, many of whom are on low incomes and need to grow their own food, the allotments have become a huge, thriving community of gardening enthusiasts.

The Higham Hill Common Allotment Association (HHCAA) has also provided gardening courses to the public and offers accessible plots to disabled and elderly people.

By building special raised beds, folk like Anne Chumbley, who is a wheelchair user, are now able to put their passion for planting into practice.

Mrs Chumbley, 34, of Walthamstow, said: “I absolutely adore it here. This is a fantastic place.

“When I’m in during the winter, the thought of being able to come here during the spring gets me through.”

Sharing a plot with husband David, 43, who is partially deaf, she has been growing a variety of crops with great success.

She said: “This year’s not been brilliant because I’ve had a few health problems but we’ve had potatoes, beetroot, carrots and onions.”

Mr Chumbley has also had some success at the allotments, not just with his strawberries and raspberries, but in making friends with his fellow plotholders.

“I like meeting people and having time and freedom,” he said.

The allotments also provide a haven for Peggy Overy, 79, of Higham Hill, who suffers from arthritis.

“This is the third year I’ve had the plot,” she said. “A friend, who’s 83, had got one and she said to me, ‘Come over, you can sit under the trees’ – I used to come over and sit and knit.

“I have so many friends here. They see me sitting there and I always get a ‘hello’.”

Mrs Overy has also benefited from being given a raised bed, as she has limited mobility.

She said: “It took nearly two years to convince me I could cope with a raised bed but I’ve never looked back. It’s nice because I can come over here and potter around - I do a bit of baking as a thank you.

“Those things that make it a community make life pleasant.”

For Albert Coleman, 76, of Leyton, originally from Jamaica, the allotments are a space in which he can return to his roots and grow vegetables usually only found in specialist markets.

He said: “I’ve been coming here for 30-odd years now. I grow garlic, peas, beans, potatoes, calaloo, cho-cho – lots of things.”

And gardening and cultivating the land are a way of life for him.

He said: “When you go to school where I come from, if you don’t learn to read and write, when you leave they give you a fork, a hoe and a machete and tell you to work the land.”