In May 2023, the United African Association acquired a community allotment in Northampton. This is part of a Public Health initiative, managed by Northampton Hope Centre to encourage healthy eating – a Grow, Cook Eat project. Since then, over 60 people have been involved preparing the soil, planting, weeding, watering and harvesting. Our youngest gardener was 10 years old when she started helping out and our oldest gardener in her 70s. Some of our crops have included maize, tomatoes, garlic, pumpkins, squash, sukuma wiki (kale), spinach, beans, onions, carrots, radishes, beetroots, cabbage, peas, chard and potatoes. The greens were very popular and grew quite well. Despite the tall, dark green and very handsome maize plants, not a single maize cob matured. We will plant them earlier this spring (April 2025).
The allotment project is free to attend and weather permitting, we visit on Thursday afternoons. If you would like to join us please get in touch.
