Grow your own in West Yorkshire

During 2009 BBC Look North's Christa Ackroyd has been growing her own vegetables and it's all been happening right here in Bradford.

Not only that, but one of BBC Radio Leeds' team of gardening experts, Graham Porter, has been giving his very own allotment advice over the year.

As Christa says, it's the perfect time to get digging.

She says: "In these times of Credit Crunch one hobby is really taking off, and that's growing your own."

Bradford allotment holder David Bottomley is the man who has been showing Christa how to get her hands dirty, but in a good way. He's a man who really knows his onions - he's won prizes for them - but he believes anyone can grow their own if they really set their minds to it.

David says: "With patience and a little bit of know-how, they can grow things like this."

Christa believes she doesn't possess a lot of patience but with a little bit of help from David, she feels she might just make it all work.

Hard work

David Bottomley has been Christa's allotment guide in Bradford

Christa first started work on the Bradford allotment in October 2008. This was the time for feeding the ground and doing lots of digging but, as she helped David harvest his parsnips, Christa had a chance to see that all the hard work would have its rewards.

But over the year, David has given Christa a long list of tasks which had to be kept up with if she wanted to end up with a healthy crop.

Saving money is not the only benefit of having an allotment. It may be a place to make new friends and even spot wildlife. For many, it's a much better option than going to the gym.

And did you know that your council has a legal requirement to provide allotments for the public? Bradford Council, alone, has 1,293 allotment holders in 40 working sites across the district.

Want to find out more about allotments where you live in West Yorkshire? Just click on one of the links below to get started.

Bradford Council allotments guide

Wakefield Council allotments guide

Kirklees Council allotments guide

Calderdale Council allotments guide

Graham's Allotment Blog November-December 2009

If you want to grow your own fruit and vegetables - or even if you've already started, then BBC Radio Leeds' gardening expert Graham Porter is the man with the answers. Every month Graham, who has been giving advice to West Yorkshire's gardeners for quite a few years now, has been keeping us up to date on what to do and when to do it.

Here's what he has to say:

"Wow! Don't those late sowings of peas come up quickly when the weather is kind? I hope that you have all got your Feltham First peas sown, either in drills directly into a well-drained piece of land or into small modules for transplanting. I cheated and soaked my peas for a few hours in tepid water to speed up the germination and it worked a treat.

Graham Porter: The man with a plan for West Yorkshire's allotments

"My overwintering onions and garlic have emerged quickly as well, the garlic tops nearly 15cm (6") high already. Let's pray that it stays mild and open for a few more weeks until Christmas to ensure that these late-sown and planted vegetables can get through any colder weather.

"I have covered my purple sprouting broccoli with netting as a precaution against one or two local wood pigeons that call in occasionally and have removed the older, yellowing leaves as well to help stop any fungal infections attacking. Do this to all overwintering brassica crops!

"For those of you with well-established rhubarb crowns, now is a good time to lift, divide and replant - it allows you to add some well-rotted manure or compost to revitalise the plants and you can select one or two healthy crowns to leave on the surface so that they get as much cold as possible in readiness for forcing them in mid-late January.

"Timperley Early is one of the best cultivars to search for. There are over 100 cultivars in the National Rhubarb Collection, held at RHS Gardens Harlow Carr near Harrogate for anyone who is particularly interested.

Vegetables and salad

"Although traditionally we eat more cooked vegetables in winter and more salads in summer, for those of you with a heated glasshouse, conservatory, warm, sunny porch or a sunny windowsill, you can sow some salads in pots now to give you that reminder of summer, even if you only use the resulting seedlings in sandwiches.

Allotments are thriving across West Yorkshire. Why not get digging?

"Try some mustard, cress, corn salad, American land cress, rocket or even basil if you can give some extra heat to get it germinated. Why not sow a few small pots now and give them away as Christmas presents?

"I have turned off the supply to my outdoor tap in the garden and have left the outdoor tap open to help prevent any frosts causing burst pipes - have you? Wrap stand pipes in hessian and sacking or pipe insulation material from a plumbers' merchants if you cannot turn off the main supply. Whilst you are out having a 'doing' session, pull out any young weeds that have germinated in the recent mild weather. It's a lot easier now than in six months time when they have a deep tap root and are setting seed again.

"Finally this month, I have been searching the world wide web again and, apart from looking through the BBC websites, I have been looking through the following for ideas, updates, information, news and to see what has changed since I started writing in January. Click on the links up on the right hand side of this page to find out more!"