Back to our Roots: How Roots Allotments are changing the gardening game

It’s a blustery day in Ruddington as I arrive at Roots Allotments. Traversing the former agricultural field, chamomile and other wildflowers line the dirt track, and funky, playful signs - ‘trespassers will be composted’, ‘no dig, no chemicals, good vibes only’, greet me in. Hundreds of plots are set out, a sea of cardboard lined rectangles, heavily mulched with inches of compost. It smells wonderful. A large fabric teepee and various seating areas distinguish it from the norm.

The first mention of modern allotments in the UK dates back to the late 1500s. Where common land depended on for subsistence by the masses was privatised during enclosure of the commons, small parcels of land were allotted back to tenants. In the 20th century the World Wars led to a peak in the movement, with 1.4 million plots in 1943. This declined to around 500,000 plots by the 1970s, and 297,000 by 1996. 

In recent times concerns about industrial agriculture, food security, and awareness of the benefits of food growing and organic approaches for our health, nature and the climate, have led to a resurgence. By 2022 there were 330,000 plots on UK council owned sites, with 100,000 people on waiting lists - some topping eighteen years. It’s in this context that Roots Allotments sprouted, opening up a new avenue for amateur food growers.

For Nat Hurst, Roots’ Ruddington Patch Manager, the benefits of growing food are obvious; “mental health, physical health, nutritional foods, exercise, our food miles and the environmental impacts of growing your own food, it just ticks all the boxes.” Having formerly done activism and green politics, she came to the conclusion that growing food ourselves was the best way we could have an impact individually. 

What makes Roots different from traditional allotment sites? “There's no hedges for a start - most allotments I've been to have them, so they're very private. But the flip side of that is that when you've got your neighbours next to you, you've got this food community. We’ll give you an induction, talk about the basics of growing no-dig, chemical free” - gardening practices which seek to benefit nature and build soil health, espoused by the likes of Charles Dowding whose teachings are referenced on site - “then they make friends”.

“We’re also about making food growing accessible. About 70% of the people here are completely new, we give them seeds, plug plants, and they get me here as their support to teach them the basics. It's quite daunting taking on a council allotment, you've often got six weeks worth of clearing to do before you’ve even gotten started. Here, you’re ready to grow.”

In the age of supermarket shopping and smartphones, where our hyper-connectedness has cultivated a weird disconnection, Roots’ purpose digs deeper than simply growing food, Nat explains. “A lot of people are coming for the sense of community. We have events, like I did a seed workshop last week, next we've got a thinning out workshop, we’ve got yoga on in the teepee”. 

Roots offers a shared tool shed, so you can turn up empty-handed, and your pre-mulched bed gets a yearly compost top-up in the no-dig style, as well as (excitingly, for me) endless woodchip. They’ll even water and weed your patch if you need them to give you some holiday cover. Space is at a premium compared to council plots, but you get a lot of productivity for less precious time put in, and the fees start at a very accessible £9.99 per month. They also offer 25% discount for blue light workers, students, and those on any form of governmental support

“We're having a powerful impact on a very fresh bunch of people”, Nat continues. “Having conversations and talking about why we do no-dig and no chemicals plants seeds that will filter out into their lives, and it's a new audience”. Beyond food, they’re growing new, nature-conscious gardeners.

Casting around the site for budding growers, I meet Sarah, who says “I think it's really easy today to just get stuck into technology, and I really value those times being outside. There’s so much negativity around and it can get really depressing and disempowering. Roots’ whole ethos around community and nature friendly gardening is really important.” 

Sarah feels like it’s a way she can make a difference, whilst making new connections; “I know that me and my single patch aren’t going to change the world, but when I look around this field, I think, well, community can change the world. I'm a complete novice, I haven't got a clue what I'm doing, but it's just really lovely to be able to have conversations with people that you probably wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to meet. Everyone’s really friendly.”

Couple Steve and Cherie are scouting out their new ‘permaculture’ plot. What’s that all about, then? “It's a system for working with nature, using what nature does best, which is to create self-sustaining ecosystems, not wasting anything,” Steve explains. What appeals about Roots in particular? “It’s the community side of it - not just getting people onto the land to grow their own food, but doing it in a way that’s interesting and giving people that training, as well as the no-dig and organic aspects.”

Cherie highlights how representative the mix of people it feels, and Roots’ partnership with local food bank Himmah, who they’ll donate excess produce to. As Cherie puts it, they make efforts toward “connecting with the wider community,” and offer free plots to local schools and other community groups.

Kate and her four year-old son Fred - who prefers to be referred to as ‘Farmer Fred’ - are coming down “pretty much every night” and have got themselves a plot alongside other young families, who have agreed that the kids are free to roam between their plots and pick each other's veg. 

I ask Farmer Fred what excites him about growing food, and whilst he’s looking forward to the cauliflowers that are going in today appearing on their Christmas dinner plate, he says “I just love planting seeds and watching them grow.” Kate says it’s “like someone has brought Glastonbury to Nottingham.” Roots bring a festival vibe to allotment gardening, and it’s a party everyone’s invited to.

Find out more and join in at rootsallotments.com/ruddington-fields-nottingham