Plotting for the future

They've inspired a recent movie, art and photography exhibitions and even found a regular spot on Gardener's World and Radio 2's Jeremy Vine Show. The source of such inspiration? Allotments.

It's almost impossible to mention them without imagining the stereotype of retired gents in flat caps, but a visit to any allotment in Scotland will show that the demographic has changed hugely in the last few years. The "dig for victory" boom of the 1940s has been replaced by a drive to be "greener", with more people keen to cultivate and eat locally grown, organic food.

Jenny Mollison, spokeswoman for the Scottish Allotments and Gardens Society (SAGS), says that when she first got her allotment at Musselburgh 20 years ago, she was one of only two female plotholders. "There are lots of women around now," she says. "It might even be 50/50. And many people bring their children too."

There was no waiting list 20 years ago, but today more than 60 people have their names down for those 46 plots at Musselburgh, with a turnover of just three a year. Across the country an estimated 3,500 are on waiting lists, desperate to get digging.

SAGS completed what is believed to be Scotland's first-ever audit of allotments last year, finding 211 active sites containing 6,300 individual plots. Although allotments are thought of as an urban phenomenon, 55 per cent of the sites are outside the main cites of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen. For those who have managed to get their hands on one, the benefits are huge.

"There are all sorts of reasons for having an allotment," says Mollison. "It's something to do with community spirit as well as gardening. It doesn't matter who you are, what you do in your other life; what matters is that you're trying to grow something."

Mollison's current crops include sweetcorn and asparagus and SAGS is running a survey to find out what exactly is being grown on Scotland's allotments (as well as how much money it is saving people). "We think a lot of people haven't the faintest idea of the wide variety of fruit and veg that can be grown by ordinary people in a climate as unpromising as ours," says Mollison. "People grow pumpkins, sweetcorn, butternut squash, outdoor tomatoes, heritage potatoes, the lot."

There are plenty of signs that this surge of interest in allotments isn't a passing fad. "I think it's a very genuine and accelerating movement, driven by rising food prices and an awareness of imminent pressures such as climate change," says Andi Clevely, author of The Allotment Book (Collins, £12.99). He says the benefits of allotment gardening are that the plot can be completely given over to food production and there's often a legacy of improved soil on the site, not to mention the company and mutual support from neighbouring plotholders.

The downside can be the time taken getting there, making it less convenient for late-night checks on pests, watering or last-minute frost protection. Many sites also experience occasional vandalism. Mollison says proximity to your plot is an important factor. "Allotments work when people can easily turn up," she says. "A survey by Edinburgh council found 50 per cent of plotholders lived within one mile and the same survey showed they put in ten hours a week in summer. That sounds just about right – you need to go up several times a week to create a successful plot."

But is it really possible to feed a family from an allotment? "It really depends," says Clevely. "You'd certainly be able to raise a large proportion of the annual diet if you ate seasonally, stored any surplus and avoided waste, but there would still be a shortfall in cereals and staples such as potatoes. It would also take dedication, efficiency – and no asparagus or goji berries!"

The size of the average plot tends to be about 200 square metres and some sites have half or even quarter-plots available. Rents range from around £25 to £60 a year, and the facilities vary hugely – some councils provide water, some maintain boundaries, others don't. The area you live in could also mean the difference between having a plot or not.

Alistair MacKinnon, spokesman for the Dunoon & District Allotment Association, is one of a group of 40 people desperately keen to get growing, but despite more than three years of campaigning, they still haven't been provided with a site by the council.

"The COSLA guidelines say to local councils that if six or more people approach you for an allotment, you have to find, fund and provide one," he says. "But Argyll & Bute Council has shifted responsibility by creating a policy that puts the onus on us as a group to find the land and funding."

Enquiries to private landowners have resulted in proposals far more expensive than the group could ever afford. "We've been trying to work with the council and talked to the Scottish Government, but they've said it's a local issue and have advised us to take it to the ombudsman. So we're now taking legal advice."

Others in the allotment community are horrified by the Dunoon group's experience, especially as it goes against the grain of what's happening elsewhere in Scotland. Recent success stories include sites being opened this year at Carnoustie and Alness, and a pilot scheme being given the go-ahead in Falkirk to create the first new allotments there in decades.

Mollison advises anyone looking for a plot to get a group together, to increase bargaining power. More details on how to go about getting an allotment are available on the website (www.sags.org.uk).

Far from being a gentle way of spending one's retirement years, allotments seem to have become a hot political issue, as well as an activity with countless benefits to individuals and the community. If you fancy having a go, get your name down on one of those waiting lists as soon as possible.

• National Allotments Week, 11-17 August. Details from www.nagtrust.org