Grow your own way in Darnall

By Andy Kershaw
BBC Sheffield & South Yorkshire

The privately-owned Infield Lane allotment site in Darnall is managed by a voluntary committee. It is a wonderful oasis of wildlife and horticulture in the east end of Sheffield where people grow every conceivable size and variety of fruit, vegetable and plant.

Paul Campbell, a retired analytical chemist, is Chairman of the Infield Lane allotments:

Paul Campbell's allotment site which has been in his family for years

"It's a 14 acre site with 210 plots. 10 years ago this was a no-go area and a year or two ago, you couldn't give them away. Thanks to the credit crunch and TV programmes like Gardeners World, growing your own has become universally popular."

Paul has been growing his own for 46 years, after taking over his allotment from his father.

"There are only five plots left to let. We recruit people from the internet and all over. Plots currently cost £22 a year including water."

Paul grows grapes, tomatoes, raspberries, cucumbers and apricots, alongside more conventional produce on his allotment.

Gary Greaves has recently given up work to become a full-time carer and finds his allotment a great way to get away from day-to-day life.

He has two double plots and keeps ducks, goats and chickens on his allotment, which doubles up as a playground for his three children during summer: "They love to climb up the apple trees and chase around after the ducks," he says.

Gary Greave's children love nothing more than climbing the apple tree

Eric Wain is the longest serving committee member at Infield Lane. He has been trying to grow sweet corn on his allotment, along with other fresh fare: "I've had a fantastic pea crop this year and also grow a lot of potatoes, carrots, cabbage, plums and onions - you name it, I grow it".

Many of the allotment residents love to use unwanted materials like old carpets and front doors on their plots. Doors of all shapes and sizes are used as fencing to mark where the plots start and end and the doors give the site a homely and lived-in feel.

Diane and Brian Cook took on a new allotment at the beginning of June 2009 and have put in some back-breaking work to clear weeds and brambles - but sadly their shed was soon broken into:

"Someone broke in and stole all our tools recently," says Diane, an ex-chef. "We have a big garden at home but it's full of everything so I wanted an allotment so that we can be self-sufficient and I can cook some tasty recipes at home."

In pictures: Darnall allotments

Pink hut

A bright pink meeting hut is used for committee meetings. The next big idea on the table is to sell garden tools and equipment to the members, plus encouraging new and amateur gardeners, and holding social events.

Richard Clare works on the Darnall Well-Being Allotment plot, a community resource for horticultural therapy for people with health problems. "We run after-school clubs and we want local people to use this as an introduction to organic gardening," explains Richard.

All the tools Richard Clarke needs to attend to his allotment

Richard is part of the Sheffield Organic Food Intiative which encourages people to produce food for education and the alleviation of poverty in the city. He grows exotic fruit and produce like ornamental yellow gourds, grapes, kales, leeks, cucumbers, lovely juicy figs and many types of tomatoes.

"Rather than growing something that you see in the shops, the idea is to grow something bigger and of a different variety."

Visit Infield Lane Allotments