Hull Council's idea to grow fruit and vegetables in overgrown open spaces is to be welcomed - Yorkshire Post Letters

Another great idea from the leaders of Kingston upon Hull City Council, utilising areas of overgrown open spaces on housing estates for growing fruit and vegetables (The Yorkshire Post, October 19, 2023).

Councillor Gill Kennet should be congratulated for tabling the motion and I do indeed believe like her that it contributes to reducing the cost of living for families who are struggling and has possibilities of reducing anti social behaviour by getting the community involved in their own neighbourhood.

The social benefits of neighbours from the area meeting up and growing vegetables, starting with easy to grow, like potatoes, radish and beetroot will inspire and encourage them to grow other vegetables crops once they have tasted the freshness of the food. Perhaps the three main DIY superstores could each donate a few packets of vegetables seeds to Hull City Council, as they usually reduce them to a £1 at this time of the year?

There are the obvious health benefits of exercising by digging over uncultivated soil and being outside in fresh air rather than in the house playing computer games.

Another benefit is showing children in cities and towns that fruit and vegetables come from the soil and not a supermarket shelf.

This is not a new idea as during World War 2 many park lawn areas were converted into allotments and used for growing mainly vegetables with cultivation and harvesting done by volunteers.

The most famous one was in London's Kensington Gardens where the lawns on the east or Serpentine Road side of the Queen Victoria and Albert memorial were used for growing vegetables.

This reminds me back in 2007, whilst working as Assistant Park Manager in London's St. James's Park, I was part of a team along with the Park Manager, Mark Wasilewski, and community education officer, Toni Assirati who was the driving force behind the project to build two demonstration allotments, one sowing heritage varieties from the 1940s, and it even had a war ‘nissen shelter’ with the second sowing modern varieties of tomato, lettuce and carrots. Visitors could see the improvements in the yields of these vegetables.

Their allotments were well visited by both local inner city schools groups learning how to grow vegetables, and we were amazed by the numbers of office workers in Westminster who visited the site during their lunch break.

These allotments were expensive to run and were taking up too much staff time during the run up to the 2012 London Olympics, and we decided to dismantle them and offered them, now with the addition of a donated summer house, along with a hundred metres of wooden perimeter fencing to the other eight Royal Parks.

As a result it was split, with half going to Kensington Gardens and Teresa Short, Assistant Park Manager, developed it with the addition of chickens. The other went to The Regent's Park. Everybody who was involved from the Royal Parks enjoyed the hard work and benefits these allotments brought to our jobs. I wish those people in Kingston upon Hull involved in this very worthwhile community project every success, and if they get half the enjoyment I had in being part of a team it is an added bonus.