Hello Landsharers. I'm sorry to say that I am leaving our lovely website - as Editor anyway - for pastures new. It's been great to see your allotments and plots develop over time, witness the excitement of Landsharers taking on their first shared plot, and see gardening questions answered helpfully and quickly. There are now thousands of acres of land being shared - enough to feed around 25,000...

Windsor and Maidenhead council are planning to sell new allotments on ebay. They're putting 14 new sites up for auction, with starting prices of either £150 or £300, depending on facilities. The 'luxury' plots - which make up 12 of the 14 allotments - will have water, greenhouses and sheds. The allotments are newly created to meet growing demand in the area. Only people who are on...

Cono Sur, producers of eco-friendly wines, are running a competition called Show What You Grow where growers can win bottles of wine for their best fruit and veg photos. There are three bottles up for grabs every week for the best photos of home-grown harvests. To enter the competition, take photos of your prize crops and send them to Cono Sur's Green Cooks website. They’ll pick three...

A survey this week by Which? found that the most popular reason for growing your own food was to save cash. The survey also found that one in four adults in the UK now grows their own (despite a lack of allotments). The Which? survey asked over 1000 people whether they were growing fruit and vegetables, and found that an impressive 24% of said that they were. Of those, they asked what motivated...

Around this time last year we posted an update on Aminopyralid - the chemical that was contaminating manure used by vegetable gardeners and destroying plants. The chemical was recalled. Now, George Monbiot has written that Aminopyralid is back, and has joined us in warning allotment holders of the dangers that it can do to crops. Aminopyralid is a chemical used in weed-killing products created...

The Soil Association recently released a press statement warning growers to remain vigilant after more cases emerged of crops damaged by manure contaminated with the toxin Aminopyralid. Landshare reported back in April that manure had been found to contain Aminopyralid - a dangerous chemical that can result in 'twisted, cupped and elongated leaves, misshapen fruit, reduced yield, death of young...

There are lots of reasons to grow tomatoes. Officially a superfood, they’re packed with vitamins, especially vitamins C and A. Homegrown tomatoes picked and eaten straight from the bough smell and taste amazing compared to the bland packs sold in supermarkets. Children love to grow and eat them, and they look great in any allotment or garden. Some varieties also thrive in baskets, helping...

As Bootham Stray allotments in York celebrates becoming one of the latest growing spaces to receive a Lottery grant to transform their allotments, Big Lottery has announced new opportunities for allotment and community garden sites in Scotland to access Big Lottery funding for improvements, with the new Community Spaces Scotland Fund. Community Spaces Scotland Fund The Lottery Fund has recently...

National Allotments Week will be held this year from 8th to 14th August 2011. The week is run by the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners (NSALG) and National Allotment Gardens Trust (NAGT). The aim is to promote allotments and show the public and councils how important they are to communities. Show your Council you Care (about Allotments) NSALG and NAGT hope that National...

This Sunday, 19th June, the River Cottage: Meat episode will screen on Channel 4. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has always passionate about sustainable, humane, and hand-reared meat, and lots of Landsharers share Hugh’s passion, and are now rearing their own animals on Landshared land.  Moving into animal husbandry can be a daunting task. Here are some of the best blogs for information,...