ROOM TO GROW
Kitchen Garden|June 2024
We meet Rhiannon Alcock from Devon, whose plot provides a place to relax and learn. It also inspired a wonderful community project growing produce for local food banks
Rhiannon Alcock
ROOM TO GROW

How long have you been growing your own?

I've been growing since I got my allotment in June 2019 and that's really when I became interested in growing food and flowers. My friend showed me her allotment and I thought "Oooh, that looks like a great thing to do" and so I contacted the local council.

Up until then my mum had spent my whole life trying to interest me in gardening, even giving my brother and me our own little vegetable patch in her veg garden. I remember she gave us £5 to buy a garden ornament for our little patch and I bought a stone dog, but the poor thing just sat there surrounded by empty earth, except for some weeds, for years!

My mum still has that dog in her garden! One of my best friends has also spent years trying to encourage me to garden and grow flowers and I never felt driven by it until the day I saw my friend's allotment, for some reason. Something shifted when I got my own allotment and I felt really connected to nature and to the process of growing and nurturing plants into fruition.

I'm so glad I decided to sign up for one because it is truly one of the best things I've ever done!

You are the founder of Devon Dig and Donate. Tell us about it.

Devon Dig and Donate is something that has been in my heart for a number of years. I work full time in education, often with vulnerable pupils and families and as the cost of living crisis and poverty rates in the UK have increased, I have supported more and more families in accessing food banks.

Through my conversations with them, and my work leading food nutrition across one of the schools I worked in, it became apparent that often families felt fresh fruit and vegetables were an expense that they couldn't always afford. And while donations to food banks are often very generous, due to the nature of collections, fresh produce is not always available for donation.

Esta historia es de la edición June 2024 de Kitchen Garden.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición June 2024 de Kitchen Garden.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE KITCHEN GARDENVer todo
SEPTEMBER SPECIALS
Kitchen Garden

SEPTEMBER SPECIALS

This month, with sweetcorn, figs and blackberries on the menu, Anna Cairns Pettigrew is not only serving up something sweet and something savoury, but all things scrumptious

time-read
5 minutos  |
September 2024
FLAVOURSOME FRUIT AUTUMN RASPBERRIES
Kitchen Garden

FLAVOURSOME FRUIT AUTUMN RASPBERRIES

September - is it late summer or the start of autumn? David Patch ponders the question and says whatever the season, it's time to harvest autumn raspberries

time-read
5 minutos  |
September 2024
SOW GREEN THIS AUTUMN
Kitchen Garden

SOW GREEN THIS AUTUMN

Covering the soil with a green manure in winter offers many benefits and this is a good time to sow hardy types, says KG editor Steve Ott

time-read
5 minutos  |
September 2024
A HISTORICAL HAVEN OF FRUIT AND FLOWERS
Kitchen Garden

A HISTORICAL HAVEN OF FRUIT AND FLOWERS

KG's Martin Fish takes time out from his own plot to visit a walled garden in Lincolnshire which has been home to the same family for more than 400 years

time-read
5 minutos  |
September 2024
RESTORING THE BALANCE
Kitchen Garden

RESTORING THE BALANCE

The phrase regenerative gardening is often heard in gardening circles, but what is it? Can it help you to grow better veg? Ecologist Becky Searle thinks so, and tells us why

time-read
4 minutos  |
September 2024
WASTE NOT, WANT NOT
Kitchen Garden

WASTE NOT, WANT NOT

Garden Organic's Anton Rosenfeld shares his expertise on using compost made from green bin collections with handy tips on getting the right consistency and quality

time-read
3 minutos  |
September 2024
Celebrating Organic September!
Kitchen Garden

Celebrating Organic September!

In this special section we bring you four great features aimed at improving your crops and allowing nature to thrive

time-read
5 minutos  |
September 2024
SEEING RED
Kitchen Garden

SEEING RED

Do your tomatoes have a habit of remaining stubbornly green? Or perhaps you're lucky to enjoy lots of lovely fruits - just all at once. Either way, Benedict Vanheems is here with some top tips to ripen and process the nation's favourite summer staple

time-read
6 minutos  |
September 2024
NEW KIDS ON THE BROCCOLI!
Kitchen Garden

NEW KIDS ON THE BROCCOLI!

Rob Smith is talking broccoli this month with a review of the different types available and suggestions for some exciting new varieties to try

time-read
5 minutos  |
September 2024
A NEW kitchen garden
Kitchen Garden

A NEW kitchen garden

Martin Fish is getting down to plenty of picking and planting on the garden veg plot, while Jill is rustling up something pepper-licking good!

time-read
5 minutos  |
September 2024