It’s our anniversary. When we broke soil on the Observer Organic Allotment. The plan at first was simple: for Observer Magazine people to work and garden together outside the newspaper office and hours. Only if they’d like to, of course. There was a small gathering of staff from the editorial and advertising teams, plus, Howard, his children and others, too.
The going was tough at first. The plot was in poor repair. Its tenant had been unwell. We dug out a skipload of rubble and bindweed and wheelbarrowed it away. We put in 10 tonnes of topsoil, a steaming lorry load of manure.
If we wilted, our allotment neighbours left us encouraging offerings.
We worked with a local school’s gardening club. I volunteered there every week. We hosted the pupils and teachers onsite. Introduced them to the joy of freshly picked peas.
We organised a nationwide schools competition to design a scarecrow for the plot. The best would win a beehive compost bin. The Observer fashion team styled the triumphant pirate. It was the best-dressed scarecrow I have ever seen.
We were visited by the Seed Ambassadors: American grower-activists travelling east to west through Europe, sharing seed and radical ideas. They helped transform the way we think about gardening. Some of the old varieties we still sow.
At the end of a year there, we returned the allotment to its tenant. She was well, her land well-dug and abundant. Home to resident newts.
Not long after, Howard and I moved over to Plot 29, a smaller share of a generous neighbour’s allotment, a gifted and inspirational grower. We are happily still there. It has helped change my life.
Through gardening I unearthed half-buried memories. I learned to mourn my brother. I shared our story. Growing is my therapy. A deep healing with food and flowers.
Allan Jenkins’s Plot 29 (4th Estate, £9.99) is out now. Order it for £8.49 from guardianbookshop.com
