Gardens

Well done, Edinburgh. When all around the country allotment sites are being threatened, and in some cases overwhelmed, by property development, The City of Edinburgh Council actually has a strategy for them. As a result, the organic allotment site at Bridgend Farm, Craigmillar, was opened on June 28 last year, the first city council site of its kind but, we hope, not the last by a long chalk.

The council is not content just to designate a plot of land and leave the rest up to the public. There are plots for less able gardeners, a community garden which is part of an NHS Gardening For Health initiative, a demonstration garden and two volunteer horticulturalists based at the site to offer help and advice to people who are starting out on the long road to becoming gardeners.

There are 58 plots - of which four are reserved for the well-being project - and although most were snapped up immediately, Edinburgh residents with itchy green fingers could do worse than put their names on the waiting list. Alas, the lovely new greenhouses succumbed to the Hogmanay gales, but hopefully new ones will arise from the shards.

Obviously there is less need for allotments in rural areas, but if you live in a town, there should be an allotment site near you. The Allotments (Scotland) Acts of 1892, 1922 and 1950, and the Land Settlement (Scotland) Act of 1919 are still in force and require councils to keep a register available for public inspection showing the details of tenancy, acreage and rent of each allotment, and any unlet allotments.

If your council proves less than helpful, remind them of their statutory responsibilities. I discovered this information on the Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society website (www.sags.org.uk). Here you can find out all you need to know about getting an allotment, or starting a site if your area lacks one. It's worth having a mosey around.

SAGS is currently auditing all existing allotments in association with Scottish Natural Heritage, which is itself carrying out an audit of all the green space in Scotland. I don't know about you, but for me that's a comforting thought.

A standard allotment plot is 10 rods (about 250 square metres), which is big enough to provide most of a family's vegetable requirements for a year. At an annual rent of around £30 this represents the bargain of the year, every year, as keeping the ground in shape and tending to your crops will keep your body just as fit as going to the gym, while the touch of the soil in the fresh air does more for mental wellbeing than anything I know.

There are also the social and community aspects, as allotment holders are generally a friendly, helpful, aware bunch. Children who help grow vegetables, experiencing the thrill and sense of achievement with the taste of the first carrots straight from the ground, are far more likely to continue to enjoy eating them. I sometimes wonder whether children's reluctance to eat vegetables is that their highly attuned palates can taste the staleness and vitamin depletion inherent in supermarket produce.

While you're waiting for your allotment, you can get some practice in - even using small-scale areas. Try growing vegetables in large containers. More about that next week.