Landshare

Last summer I joined the website Landshare and listed my garden.

The idea of the website is that people with space in their gardens can 'lend' the space to a would-be gardener in order to grow vegetables, and then the harvest is split between the landowner and the grower. This struck me as a fantastic idea. I have a garden which I really don't use. I would love to grow veg myself but partly because of my health restrictions and partly because of laziness, I don't. There are so many people out there without gardens, sitting on allotment waiting lists and having to wait years before they can grow their own. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get any response and so, after a couple of months, I just forgot about it.

Then, last week I got a message from the site; someone had inquired about my listing! The guy in question is just a little younger than me and along with his girlfriend wants to be able to grow some fruit and veg, but doesn't have a garden. They also don't have a car, and the only available allotment they could find was too far away. Yesterday they came around to have a look at the garden and briefly chat with me and so come spring, they're going to turn part of the lawn into a veg patch!

They can't start clearing at the moment as it's buried under snow, but hopefully in a few weeks things can get started and I am looking forward to getting some real home-grown produce! I've said that I'm happy to help them, so perhaps this can also inspire me to do more myself - and start that herb garden I've been dreaming about all year!

-Hannah