IF you are green-eyed at the green fingered exploits of others, this weekend offers you the chance of change.
On Saturday afternoon, representatives from four different groups will be encouraging would-be food gardeners and explaining how they work and how to get started.
The Chickerell Food Group, Dorchester Transition Town, the Incline Orchard and Community Garden at Chiswell on Portland and Shaftesbury Home Grown will all have members at the event.
Organiser Dr Jon Orrell said: “This event is to inspire those who have dreamt of growing their own food to hear from locals who have taken the plunge with a series of short talks and a brief film. There will be plenty of time for chat and discussion.
“If you are one of the 200 people stuck on a waiting list for an allotment then come along and join others so we can work together to build a campaign for more plots in your area. Maybe the prospect of taking on an allotment on your own is too big a leap for the novice.
“Hear about different ideas from the traditional solo plot as families or like-minded individuals have come together to share their energy and muscle power.”
The Weymouth-based GP added: “As a doctor I am interested in people’s health and one of the things that get people healthy is digging or exercise and growing their own stuff. That’s my main motivation.
“Also, cycling and walking are things that get you fit, which is excellent from the point of the individual, but if you look at the top end, at the fate of the planet with carbon emissions and our running out of oil, it is good for that too.”
The Chickerell Food Group was funded by a grant from the Weymouth and Portland Partnership. John Tomblin will talk about the practicalities of erecting a shed to withstand the assaults of westerly gales, plus the ongoing battles between growers and the animals that want to eat their crops.
Liz Beardsall from Dorchester Transition Town will also be present to talk about their garden share scheme.
She said: “It is like a dating agency for back gardens and keen growers where someone with an untended plot can offer it to a willing digger who lacks their own land.
“I can visit the gardens to assess their potential and explore with the landowner what individual arrangements might suit them best. The gardeners also sign up with their preferred area and level of skill.”
She added: “Allotment waiting lists are long and this could be a practical way ahead for the wider area. We would like people to come along if they have a big garden to share or are stuck in a flat with the energy but no outlet.”
One of the newest community growing projects is the Incline Orchard and Community Garden at Chiswell on Portland.
Set up in June last year with a Lottery grant, the project is attracting gardeners of all ages and is also an important site for some of the UK’s rarest insects.
So far, workers from the Chiswell Community Trust have planted nine apple trees – mainly Dorset natives – and are also hoping to grow a wide range of vegetables and flowers.
They also have two hives of bees provided by Portland Rotary Club and the ancient landscape is also home to the uncommon yellow meadow ants who live in anthills under the ground and feed on root and aphid sap.
These beneficial little insects, which keep the soil aerated and light, have an unusual symbiotic relationship with the caterpillar of the rare chalkhill blue butterfly, which pupates in the safety of the anthills and provides the ants with sugary secretions to feed on.
Organiser Margaret Somerville said: “The site was derelict when we first got it and we had to clear all the brambles away, but now it is a community garden where people have plots to grow what they want.
“I was delighted when a boy of 12 or 13 came up to me with his friend and asked whether they could have a patch to grow potatoes.”
Margaret will be at Saturday’s meeting to talk about the orchard and garden and explain some of the difficulties they have come up against and are still facing.
“People say they want to do something like this. But it is more difficult than you realise,” said Margaret. “But it will be worth it.”
The afternoon of talks and displays will take place on Saturday, April 24 from noon until 3.30pm at the Ocean Room in the Pavilion theatre, Weymouth.
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