Northfields Allotment club welcomes public on annual open day

Hundreds of green-fingered enthusiasts, including town mayor, Amanda Bosworth, visited Hunstanton’s Northfields Allotment club on Sunday for their annual open day.

Members grow everything from traditional fruit and vegetables to more exotic foods such as Okra, also known as ladies fingers, popular in African and Caribbean dishes.

But Okra is not the only less well-known plant amongst the ever popular runner beans, cabbages, carrots, and strawberries because the 70-strong membership includes gardeners from no fewer than 12 different countries around the world.

“We’ve got an Italian who grows some pretty wicked garlic and an Irish guy who is brilliant at growing potatoes,” said committee member Chris Bishop.

Some visitors took the opportunity to buy healthy home-grown produce knowing it to be free of most pesticides and herbicides of which some 16,000 tonnes are used on shop-bought crops in the UK each year.

“We’ve got quite a wide range of produce on sale despite the difficult growing conditions this year. People also come to chat to plot holders and pick up tips, and we have had several people who are interested in having a plot themselves,” said Mr Bishop.

“It’s not just about middle-aged men sitting around in their sheds drinking homebrew and arguing about carrot fly.

“We’ve got quite a few young families; everyone from young children who enjoy themselves to gardeners in their eighties.”

The cost of a 40 feet by 40 feet quarter plot is £15 a year. The maximum sized plot costs £60 annually. There is a mixture of long time plot holders and newcomers. One new holder who joined a waiting list in January this year was given a plot four months later. Another plot holder has been on site for 30 years with a plot containing mature apple, pear and fig trees.

Mr Bishop said that the exceptionally dry weather had not been kind to some crops.

But he added: “But some of the soft fruits, such as blackberries and autumn raspberries are absolutely brilliant. I’ve never tasted anything so sweet.”