The National Allotments Week theme for 2024 is Biodiversity. But you don’t need your own piece of land to get involved in encouraging wildlife, restoring fertile earth and growing produce in Brighton and Hove. Whichever area of the city you live in, you will find plots and societies ready to open their gates and welcome you into the allotment community.
How to get involved
You can apply via The Council Website for a plot to call your own. But if you find yourself on a long waiting list or simply can’t make the commitment to a whole plot, don’t be disheartened. There are so many other ways to access allotments, some of which have unique benefits.
Becoming an Allotment Co-worker is one way to get growing without going it alone. In return for sharing with another plot holder, you will be able to get started with growing and harvesting sooner. Register for this official Council scheme via your local site representative. Or be creative – could you offer to help someone in your neighbourhood who has an allotment or garden too large for them to manage? Sometimes your offer could be just what someone else is looking for.
If you’re new to gardening or want a more social experience, the support of a community group can make all the difference. You can find a full list of the many community gardening groups working in other green spaces across the area.
But whichever area of the city you live in, there are plots and societies ready to open their gates and welcome you into the allotment community. We spotlight some of them below. You can also find stories and hot tips from experienced allotment plot holders.
Opportunities on allotment sites near you
Click to expand the sections below to explore the areas of Brighton & Hove and get growing today.
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North
Stanmer park is a hive of horticultural activity, famous for the Soil Association accredited organic centre. But also at Stanmer is the North Laine Community Association Allotment specifically for experienced or novice gardeners who live and work in the North Laine area and want a break from the city.
In Hollingbury, the Roedale Allotment and Garden Society hold volunteering events all year round in their plot and orchards. Expect opportunities to swap plants and seeds, plus tea, coffee and cake provided for all.
Moulsecoomb Forest Garden and Wildlife Project , Nurture through Nature and New Roots can all be found just a stones throw from Moulsecoomb train station. No experience is necessary for any of these groups, and you will be able to enjoy the produce as you learn.
In Coldean, the Community Allotment has worked with its volunteers and Trust for Developing Communities to tackle the barriers to accessibility some of us can experience in allotment spaces. There are raised beds, a paved area, toilet facilities and long handle tools to enable more people with limited mobility to get gardening.
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East
There are several allotment sites in Whitehawk and the area hosts a variety of community groups who are ready to welcome volunteers.
Here you will find some plots managed by projects providing food for people experiencing food insecurity, including East Brighton Food Co-op and Brighton Unemployed Centre Families Project. The veg volunteers help to grow go directly to support meals-on-wheels and food bank services across the city.
Nearby, opposite Racehill Allotments, Brighton Permaculture trust have planted over 200 fruit trees at Racehill Community Orchard. Interested volunteers and school groups are encouraged to visit and learn how to care for orchard trees.
Possibly the most well-known project is the Whitehawk Community Food Project. They have now been cultivating the land here using organic, permaculture and biodynamic principles and techniques for over 25 years. You can come to absorb the knowledge from their years of experience, or simply to enjoy the calm space and beautiful views.
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West
Out west in Southwick, young residents of Downslink YMCA can experience allotmenteering at Project Green. Attendees share responsibilities for tending the garden and enjoy a healthy nutritious meal with the fresh produce.
Portslade is home to the Day Options Community Garden, a group for adults with learning disabilities. You can be referred with a support worker to enjoy working the raised beds and mini orchard, both individually and as a team.
If you live in Hove, Weald Allotments has several groups to choose from. The double sized plot of Grace Eyre Community Garden Group is kept beautiful by participants with learning disabilities and autism, alongside green-fingered volunteers. Plot 22 offers food growing, ecotherapy activities, creative and arts projects and is a member of the Green Wellbeing Alliance. And Brighton & Hove Organic Gardening Group (BHOGG) brings people together to share a passion for organic gardening at their weekly workdays and interesting skills workshops. All these groups offer the opportunity to build connections and long-lasting friendships.
Top tips from allotmenteers in Brighton and Hove
Members of local allotment projects share their knowledge on how to get started, even if you’re not a plot holder. Click the names of the allotment projects below to read their unique stories and advice.
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Brighton and Hove Organic Gardening Group (BHOGG)
It all started with Alan Phillips, co-founder of both BHOGG and the annual extravaganza that is Seedy Sunday. His desire to grow food using organic principles came from curiosity and also a need. A search for ways to ease the symptoms of illness in his family lead him to start growing food without conventional pesticides.
This initial act has proven to be the foundation of a flourishing garden and vibrant community based at Hove’s Weald Allotments. Alan sadly passed away in 2023, but is fondly remembered for his generosity in sharing his skills, experience and passion for organic gardening with the many members of the group. 2024 will be BHOGGs 20 year anniversary, and the plot is still going strong. I spoke to Chris Brown, a key member of the BHOGG team, who shared some insights for new gardeners.
Start Small
Many people get bitten by the organic gardening bug, only to become overwhelmed by trying to do too much too soon. “A lot of people think they have to go the whole hog in one go, but it’s not like that” Chris tells me. Rather than having your first foray into gardening on a large plot, it can actually be more successful to start small.
If you’re keen to grow 100% organically, this can be achieved easily on a small scale. One bag of certified potting soil will be enough for several containers of happy crops. You could even start with just one plant pot and one packet of seeds.
In fact, some of the best produce can be grown in containers. Chris described the delicious carrots that he grew in an old recycling box. This worked because he placed it up high, out of reach of carrot root fly, a common insect which often ruins root crops planted at ground level.
And at a time when many of us are watching our wallets, investing in just a couple of small window boxes or pots can reduce the risk that comes with starting a new venture. “From those small starts, so much could develop.”
As well as communal beds which grow shared produce, BHOGG has a starter bed scheme. Members of the scheme can have a go at growing their choice of plants on their own mini plot. Often this helps people who are on the allotment waiting list to build up experience so that by the time their plot is ready, so are they.
BHOGG Allotment – Photo credit Monica N
Find your community
The plot is not just about growing plants, wellbeing is a massive part of what people grow here. That’s why Chris got involved at BHOGG in the first place and he is pleased to see people continuing to experience the benefits. He explains how, for him, gardening lead to a greater understanding of the wellbeing of the soil, the produce and people, and that “it’s all linked”.
Even if you are growing on a windowsill, you may not know how many people in your neighbourhood are feeling the same and might be encouraged to see your efforts. You can share gluts of produce or excess seedlings in your neighbourhood. “It’s so important for people to realise that they are not alone” Chris emphasises. Forget plant hacks online, the clever tricks you can learn by asking others help on the allotment could take your growing to the next level.
BHOGG Allotment – Photo credit Monica N
The team effort of the volunteers makes all the difference at BHOGG and new members are always welcome. Upcoming activities around soil health include improving the composting beds, which are currently home to a healthy population of slowworms, but need renovating to keep making great compost. All of this good work ultimately goes back into the plot and the soil.
Learn more and get involved at Brighton and Hove Organic Gardening Group (BHOGG).
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Coldean Community Allotment
Lisa Rose-Dell moved to coldean about 10 years ago. She inherited a vegetable patch with the garden of the house and was equally excited and stumped. There was the potential to grow healthy food for her children, but how to get started with no gardening experience?
A small advert in the Coldean Newsletter invited her to the community allotment nearby. She soon joined in to tend the vegetables and fruit bushes stretching over two plots, picking up tips for her home garden as she got growing. “It was just the three of us” Lisa remembers. While the allotment volunteering days are popular, the dedicated core team of Lisa and retiree Ron have been the glue holding the plot together through the years.
Find a place where you can pop to often
Lisa is a fitness trainer and she recognises real health effects of spending time on the plot. If you go regularly, you’ll feel the benefits from eating nutritious produce, getting moving, and replenishing your energy reserves in a calming place. “Breathing the fresh air, feeing the earth, it’s really good for you, and then you have the added bonus of the food.”
And you can pass the benefits on too. Lisa shares produce with her neighbours, fills her children’s lunches with fresh fruit, and brings them there for playtime on the plot.
Lisa goes to the plot at least once a week during the growing season. She admits that “like most of us, we’ve just got too many fingers in other pies”. But a little-and-often approach can mean that your plot flourishes in the long term. Keeping on top of weeding and maintenance can mean you don’t need to do a big blitz of backbreaking work or harsh chemicals to get things back under control. Choosing somewhere you can easily travel to in spare time is a good idea.
Watching the same plot throughout the changing seasons can build valuable knowledge and connections with nature. Lisa has also encouraged a move to more nature friendly gardening once getting to know the allotment. “When I first joined the plot, they really loved the weed killer, spraying it all up the path, and I said come on, we are eating from this land!” The only intervention they use sparingly these days is organic slug pellets. She has learnt to use crop rotation, companion planting, and habitats for beneficial insects to their advantage.
Coldean Community Allotments – Photo credit Lisa Rose-Dell
Learn to cook and store your produce
In Lisa’s house, allotment-grown food is often on the menu. It’s important to her that her children learnt where their food comes from and were empowered to be a part of it. “It’s fun picking the stuff. It tastes amazing, even when it doesn’t look great. And it’s organic …The fruit and veg we grow on the plot always tastes 100% better than the veg in my garden, I don’t know why!”
The plots large fruit cage, polytunnel and many beds mean that sometimes the amount of produce can be almost overwhelming. Getting creative with new recipes in the kitchen means that meals don’t have to become boring when gluts of the same vegetables just keep coming. The internet is a great source of ideas, simply search for recipes which use up the ingredients you have.
Bonus skills in storing the produce properly will allow you to keep enjoying your produce, even outside of peak season. Lisa likes to share her techniques for tasty pickles and chutneys with other volunteers. And if that seems like too much work, by far the simplest way is to store produce in the freezer. After giving the fruit a quick wash, drying off and putting into freezer bags, Lisa tells me that “all year we have a lovely supply of berries for our breakfast.”
Find a place where you feel at home
If you seek out a plot that works for you it can become a place you really feel at home. Finding this sanctuary is admittedly not as easy for everyone however. Those of us who need to keep dependents safely with us or need to move on stable terrain may find some styles of allotments don’t meet our expectations.
If you have found this to be true, Coldean Community Allotments might be worth a visit. Lisa realised the site was a haven for her young children. “I had them in the sling on my back right from when they were little” she says.
And the allotments also welcome people with limited mobility to use the tall raised beds in the centre of the area. These, along with long handled tools, make it possible to garden without needing to stand or bend down. The raised beds are made accessible via a smooth path which leads directly from the pedestrian crossing from Coldean Lane.
Community is a massive part of making lasting connections to the land, so make sure to find a group that feels welcoming to you. You might just decide to get more involved and make your mark on the place, just like Lisa has.
Coldean Community Allotments – Photo credit Lisa Rose-Dell
Funding granted for the community allotment has allowed them to invest in the infrastructure to grow more. They purchase fine scaffold netting rather than garden mesh, a money saving hack that protects their produce from pests. Their large polytunnel allows heat loving cucumbers, pepper and chillies to thrive. But when the polytunnel cover gets a hole or the wooden patio or shed needs boards replacing, it’s always helpful to have more hands-on deck to get things mended.
Children are especially welcome and Lisa says “It’s so nice for them to come after school. You can destress, pick a punnet of berries, and take them home to enjoy”. New volunteers who are interested to do something practical and rewarding in return for some delicious produce should get in touch via the Coldean Allotments Facebook page.
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Whitehawk Community Food Project
When the group started work on the plot in 1996 it was a patch of scrubby brambles on thin, poor soil. Today, the investment of over 25 years of volunteer time has produced a thriving food forest and community hub.
Kerry Slater began visiting the allotment group 19 years ago, after discovering it was the perfect place for her young children and their friends to play. “We took them up to the community allotments and they would build dens and climb trees. It was a wonderful environment for them”. Today, she is the project’s secretary, activity coordinator and more. She shared with me why this space is special to her and so many others.
Fostering a sanctuary for people and wildlife
Allotments can be a massive commitment, but they don’t have to be. The Whitehawk Community Food Project welcomes anyone to come to the plot, fully aware that everyone has their own reasons for wanting to be there and different capacities to work the land.
She has noticed that many people who visit are already tired from working hard to make ends meet. “They can just come and enjoy,” Kerry says. Just being surrounded by the plants and wildlife might be what we need, and the plot welcomes social prescribers, crafters, musicians and many other therapeutic groups. “It’s a real oasis up there. And it’s just amazing to see the difference it makes to the people that come regularly”.
Providing opportunities to take home fresh ingredients is an important part of what they do. Kerry feels that “it’s really important to me that healthy wholesome food isn’t a commodity”. The current glut of tomatoes, cucumbers and more is being shared out amongst the plot members who pay just £5 a year. And it’s not just veg – they create Lavender balms in the medicinal herb garden, dried leaves for teas, pickles, ferments, and even spicy Nasturtium pesto.
Be brave and try new things
Experimenting is a great way to find out what works on your particular soil. At Whitehawk the changes in climate and weather are starting to make some annual crops frustrating to grow. Perennial crops can be more robust against weather changes and are also able to put down deeper root systems to pull up more nutrients and water.
They decided to try planting more perennial crops and trees, emulating natures cycles, layering the soil, and practicing ‘low-dig’ methods to disturb the earth less. The result is a thriving ‘Food Forest’. Kerry says “We are aware of the huge web of life under the soil” and that the food forest seems to have already improved soil health.
To build soil on a poor piece of land, you can get creative with composting. The Council can help you get a discount on a plastic composter or you can build your own compost beds. Whitehawk Community Food Project have a compost tumbler which speeds up the process by getting the food scraps moving. They have plans to use worm castings to make a fertilizer soup. And their chickens are also a key part of the composting cycle. They eat and rummage their way through piles of surplus food donated by charitable organisations, helping to get the ‘waste’ well on it’s way to becoming soil.
You can even try stepping back and just seeing what grows all by itself. Kerry explains her background in foraging and that there is a lot of value in self-seeding areas, which are also rich habitats for wildlife. There are benefits to relinquishing control and just enjoying the land for what it is.
Learn more and get involved at Whitehawk Community Food Project.
Do you run an allotment group and have plot stories or hot tips to share? We’d love to include them on this page. Contact Emma at [email protected]