Growing your own food

I have a postage-stamp sized garden. It is too shady to grow food (woodland plants only :) but still very much appreciated as it improves our quality of life no end. I would suggest that council planning officers request sun-shade diagrams with planning applications and ensure that any new developments provide outdoor space with sufficient sun light to grow food. A lot of the recent courtyard developments (by private developers) that I have seen come through are very shady and would not allow food growing. The majority of vegetables and fruit need a minimum of 6 hours of sun light per day. Roofs often get the most light and would be great for food growing. Obviously, soil loading and irrigation are issues here. Often engineers don't design structures to allow for sufficient soil loading as it is more expensive.

Many existing lower-storey housing estates have good sunny outdoor areas which are underused. These would be a great resource for food-growing, with some council support. 

We buy most of our vegetables from the local farmers market. Farmers markets are great but pricey so not universally affordable. I love them but they do seem to contribute to the gentrification of an area. I would love for food growing on council estates and in school grounds to be supported. Good for people's mental health as well as producing delicious food! 

It is such a delight to be able to grow some of my own food and I highly recommend it to anyone who can. I grow on a balcony, windowsills and part of a front garden. Biggest successes are tomatoes, salad leaves, courgettes. Microgreens and sprouted seeds can be grown indoors even if you don't have outdoor space. Growing makes me more aware of the climate, of nature, of the seasons. And the produce tastes so fresh and special. And when I buy food I am much more likely to get what I know is in season, fresher, cheaper and more nutritious with less food miles. I also recommend http://verticalveg.org.uk/ developed by former Londoner Mark Ridsdill-Smith which is all about growing in small spaces. I am currently using some planters outside homeless families accommodation to share with the children the delights of growing food. We have produced beans, chillies, onions, garlic, tomatoes which were shared with the families. So it isn't just about providing plots, though that is needed, but building communities and sharing learning and the produce within them.

I live in a flat in East London and I'd love to grow my own veggies.

Unfortunately there isn't any allotment available. They are extremely popular and are very difficult to get.

There is sections on the A12 by the Olympic park that belong to the motorway and are often covered in litter. Having allotments there would improve the quality of the air while keeping the place tidy and safer for pedestrians.

Yes, my partner and I grow a lot of fruit and veg (organically) but many people who do not actually grow... and use... their own food fail to appreciate that it is a whole way of life. I kid you not, even choosing times to book holidays is crucial, as being away during the height of summer means that your precious plants could die from lack of water and you return to find loads of unpicked veg have been rotting away.

It's like plots need trustworthy babysitters.

Cleaning veg takes so much time, when we are used to virtually spotless fayre from supermarkets. Not to mention actually cooking/ eating it when faced with a glut. You give some to friends and neighbours and you are still snowed under. Councils should advertise local sharing schemes, so people can donate extra fruit/ veg to food schemes and good causes.

Watering regularly, preventing weeds from taking over. And many veg beds need to be a mini Fort Nox because otherwise they will be decimated by birds and nosey foxes. No wonder many who try to grow food end up giving in on their allotments.

Councils should provide assistance. For example, those new to growing should be supported by buddying up and sharing an allotment. They could buddy up with someone who is experienced and provide help in weeding, digging etc in exchange for advice and say a small part of a plot to use. The large size of a regular plot is often too much for a newbie to handle. There should be options for a half or quarter plot, so it is not too daunting.

I compost in a builders sack with holes in for drainage and some composting worms. It all seems to work fine. A few years ago potatoes were discovered to have grown from peelings with the eyes in them no doubt. Now i have a big bucket where i grow potatoes. I only have a narrow strip of balcony. I have a dwarf plum and an apple tree in tubs.i grow fresh herbs and tomoatoes. I never had luck with peppers.

I grow food in my garden and my husband is on the waiting list for an allotment. He helps a friend out sometimes and gets a share of produce in return. There is a large waiting list for allotments, but some allotments seem too big for some people to maintain but they are not given up. I suggest allotment shares are allowed and/or larger allotments are divided into smaller plots. Also, a scheme where people could grow veg in unused gardens, or grow veg for people who can no longer garden, would extend access to healthy homegrown food and may help community cohesion, combat loneliness etc. 

I grow strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries and I have a plum tree in my back garden. I also grow potatoes but the urban foxes do a lot of damage by digging them up.

Gardening is time-consuming and hard work. I am sad to see so many of my neighbours paving over their gardens. A young couple moved in next door and they both work so I offered to cut their back lawn, mainly because I was worried they would pave it. Working hours are very long these days and young people with jobs and children don't have time for vegetable growing.

I wish there were regulations to limit the area of a residential garden can be paved over. It's great to have a patio but it's so damaging to the environment when people pave the whole garden so the rain runs off and doesn't soak into the ground

I have apples, blackcurrants,blackberries,strawberries,lavender, rosemary, lemon balm, mint, thyme, chives and garlic in the garden. It strikes me that many fairly large back gardens in some areas are overgrown and neglected and would probably be a good place to suggest help growing produce to share perhaps?

Growing our own food where we live is not possible for the forseable future. Our building community do not have space for that. The borough do not have communal garden area for that either. With pessure on London's real estate, I doubt real estate owners would be willing to offer land for communal/local agriculture.