My own bit of Ecotherapy

So, I will be the first to admit that gardening is not an area where I excel. Despite this, I acquired an allotment towards the end of last year.

Why get an allotment if you're not very good at gardening you might ask...? When the first wave of the pandemic hit and we were in lockdown, the idea of having somewhere else to go and growing my own produce appealed to me massively. Similarly to how some people rekindled old hobbies and discovered new ones, I wanted to give it a go.

My first hurdle was that I had no idea about allotment waiting lists. Just over a year and a half later (way past that first lockdown) which is still quite quick, I was offered a 7.5 rod (google it) plot. Yep I had no idea what a rod measurement was either but I knew from the information sheet that the average size was 10 rods. So I thought ahhh 7.5 sounds just right then.

I excitedly went to visit the plot that I was offered and low and behold it was about twice the size I thought it would be. It was also in need of some TLC with quite a lot of brambles. The below picture doesn't do them justice.








As a beginner to gardening I thought this is probably too much for me to take on but I took the plot anyway because I wanted to challenge myself and glad I did. 

I cannot express the feeling that I get when I am digging away with my hands in the ground. The knock on effect is that I am doing more at home too. Prior to getting the allotment in winter, the last time I had worn a pair of wellies was when I was a child.

I ventured out of my comfort zone and in doing so the allotment has exceeded my expectations from a wellbeing perspective. From a simple place to go and something to do, to something I have become quite passionate about. I really enjoy the peace and being a part of the process produce goes through. 

It also offers another social aspect to my life and the thing that I enjoy most? Being in the moment. My music goes in, the phone goes away and my focus is purely on what I am doing.

I know that not everyone will have access to an allotment but I would encourage anyone to give gardening a go or discover there own bit of ecotherapy if you don't already. Even if you buy a plant to look after (I can recommend a bonzai if you are looking for a challenge as you can get a variety of indoor/outdoor types).

P.S. It does look nicer since the image with plenty to do still but that's fine as I am on my own journey with it.

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