OUR TOP PLOTTERS

Last summer we launched a competition to find our Top Plotters, with the top three winning some great prizes and all being featured in Kitchen Garden magazine this year. Here we feature one of our runners-up...

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CHANTAL BROOKS FROM CORNWALL

Do you tend your plot on your own? If not, who helps?

I tend my plot alone - I love the solitude. In fact, I'm a bit obsessed. If I could get a bed and a wood burner in my shed, I don't think I would leave.

I have two half-plots on a small allotment site in the old mining town of Redruth, Cornwall. Some of the plot holders have had their plots since the 1970s, so there is a lot of experience and knowledge, and one is a judge in flower and produce shows held throughout Cornwall. The plots don't come up very often, so I was lucky to get my first one in 2021, after a two-year wait. After my first year, I asked to go back on the waiting list for another one after hearing Monty Don talk about perennial vegetables. When I got my second plot in July 2023, my brother came to help. He's 70, bless him, and helped me cut it back and clear the paths.

Do you also have a veg plot in your garden?

Over the years, I filled a blank garden space with flower borders - roses, irises, wildflowers, and honeysuckle to encourage wildlife and pollinators. At first, I had all my tools, mower, and pots in a spare room until I could afford a small potting shed. I did grow vegetables in small, raised beds before I got my allotment.

I prefer having a designated space just for vegetables, on my allotments. I love the simplicity of a bed of brassicas, a bed of beans, and a bed of root crops - it makes crop rotation a lot easier. My first plot is 75m² and my second is 91m².

In the garden, I have an 8x4 greenhouse, which is great as I grow most of my veg and flowers from seed. I have a large cold frame that my brother built for me, where I harden everything off before taking it to the plot.