Sunday 29 July 2012

Speaking to the U3A

On Friday I was the guest speaker at the Whickham U3A (University of the 3rd Age - a group for senior citizens) where I gave a presentation about self-sufficiency and why I gave up my job to grow my own food. The presentation went well. The issue of most interest was - how to capture a swarm of bees! A close second was food waste and why throwing away food is, in my opinion (shared by the 40 ladies in the audience) a terrible sin.

I ran through the history of how we took over a derelict piece of land and have turned it into a productive allotment. There was also some interest in my wild food foraging activities. It seems the ladies have not had enough of me. Some of them suggested I come back to their September meeting, and bring my jams with me!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Could you give a little more info on how you got the land? I'd love to be able to do this but I really don't know where i'd do it!
Thanks :)

Jonathan Wallace said...

The land we use is an allotment. We rent it from a local care home. We also look after my Dad's allotment in the next village which is rented from an allotment association. We also use our back garden at home.

There is a bit of a waiting list for allotments so it's best to get your name down early. Most allotments are run by local councils so to get one, best start with the local council offices.

Anonymous said...

Thankyou for the reply! from a local care home? interesting, there are allotments around here but they are all a few miles away. Is it possible to buy allotments?

I'll try and get my name down! thankyou for the advice :)

Jonathan Wallace said...

It is possible to buy allotment land if the owner is willing to sell but I would question whether or not it is worth the investment. Rents are quite modest but the cost of buying plus the legal costs would probably cost more than the rent you pay.