A real sense of community

When Nat and I arrived in the area a couple of years ago , the first thing we wanted was get an allotment. Unfortunately, where we were based at the time (Potton), the length of the allotment waiting list meant that we were never likely to get a plot. We then saw some private allotments to rent nearby, and we jumped at the chance. It is true, the cost was a bit more, but they were very big plots, and the soil was rich as it was basically a field that had been left fallow for a long time. It was a very strange set up though. We were the first people on the allotment (the field) and apart from a few spikes here and there to mark out the plots (oh, and a tap on the other side of the field), there was nothing... and no-one. We paid the owner directly, who occasionally decided to show up but for the most part left us to our own devices. Slowly, some people did start arriving, and we all set about starting to grow some veg. We chatted from time to time over the fences that we had had to erect to keep out the army of rabbits. The size of the plots meant we could have  a bit of a garden, which our old flat sadly lacked.

At the same time, there was something missing.

We moved to Steeple after a year, and wanted something closer to home. I think we managed to get the last or second last of the plots going on the new allotment here.

What first struck us was how much had been done in such a seemingly short period of time. Plots had already been organised, and because we arrived in spring, there were often many enthusiastic gardeners tending to them. Unlike at the old allotment, there were no fences keeping neighbours out, and a good portion of time was spent going from plot to plot chatting and admiring each others vegetables. This was what had been missing: a sense of community.

Nothing better conveys the sense of a community than when everyone gets their hands dirty, working towards one aim. I've experienced it a couple of times on the allotment, but no more so than yesterday, when many people got together to help weed a strip of land that separates us from the neighbouring, farmed field. Everyone got their hoes and rakes down, while one person Barbecued bacon and sausages to keep the rest of us going. People were working (and don't get me wrong, it was pretty back-breaking), but we were all smiling and chatting to one another and the work seemed not to take too long at all. What's more, it was a beautiful day, and it really felt like we had welcomed in the spring.