Allotment boom: Community-growing projects flourish post-pandemic

Green-fingered Fifers say a project to open more allotments around the Kingdom is a growing success.

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a large spike in demand for allotments, and a change in demographic of who you might expect to see gardening and growing in a plot.

Fife Council has seen its waiting list double and it now sits at more than 2,000 people – so patience is a virtue not only required once you have your patch, but to get it too.

The council have embarked on a strategy that will run through until 2029, with the aim of improving the provision of allotments and community-growing facilities in the region.

In the past year, more than 100 new plots have been created. In Inverkeithing, all 40 spaces were quickly snapped up after the new allotment opened in November last year.

Kate McQuillan is one of those proud plot holders and she says the benefits are aplenty.

“You’re getting away from life, if you live in a flat and you don’t have a garden, you’re going to have a bit of land to sit at,” she told STV News.

“If there’s something bugging you, you can come down here and forget about it.”

She says the health benefits, both physical and mental, have been clear – and it’s also led to a budding community.

“What a community we have here, everybody will help everybody,” she said.

“If you’re on holiday there’s so many people who say, ‘I’ll water your plot’

“We’ve already got people saying ‘right I’ve got too much of this veg, who wants it?’”

In St Monans, there are now 39 new individual plots – a communal poly tunnel, a community orchard and a new meeting room. Furthermore, 40 new plots and a meeting room have been created at Smeaton Allotments in Kirkcaldy.

Training courses are also offered to new plot holders and a number of links are being set up with schools and health centres to make community growing available.

Peter Duncan, Fife Council’s allotment and community growing officer, told STV News: “The way the strategy’s written it’s very much the barebones and it allows us to apply the flesh as per community, so that the projects are community-driven and officer supported.”

Allotment holders say that in recent years the hobby hasn’t just grown in popularity amongst older people but youngsters as well.

A number of children are involved with the Inverkeithing project – showing the future is blossoming too.