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The many joys of planting and growing among friends
Monday 13th April 2026
Ten Poems about Allotments
Having an allotment isn’t the same as having a vegetable patch in the garden. There’s something about the sense of shared endeavour – the fair exchange of cups of tea and know-how – that means an allotment is not just a place but also a state of mind.
The selection features poems that revel in the good-natured competition that inevitably arises: who has grown the biggest onion and whose weeds are most to be frowned upon. There are also slugs and worms, as well as aching backs and roughened hands – all seasoned by the heady tang of manure.
But the abiding spirit is the pleasure that comes from tending a small patch of earth, the deep joy afforded by taking part in the year’s repeating patterns of planting and harvesting.