Autumn food stars: what to cook, plant and pick now
Cook up mushrooms, leeks and foraged chestnuts, pick fruit, sow broad beans for spring and harvest squash
August 2026
Watermelons in Bristol: how UK heatwaves are affecting growers
Most allotment holders say the heat has meant more work for smaller crops, although some have found a silver lining
June 2026
Summer food 2026
Summer picks: what to plant, harvest and eat right now
Tomatoes, samphire and basil bloom in summer – as, of course, do the essential strawberries
April 2026
I got an allotment to escape the chaos – and discovered a hotbed of vendettas
Arwa Mahdawi
Community gardens are flourishing as people seek a positive, productive space beyond the political noise. Just don’t express any strong opinions about gravel, writes Arwa Mahdawi
March 2026
Spring’s bounty: what to sow, plant, prune, harvest and eat
From tender broad beans and cheek-puckering rhubarb to nutty new potatoes, make the most of the season’s best
February 2026
Cemented locks and deflated diggers: the war over privately run allotments
With waits for council plots in England decades-long, Roots is renting out green space – but some communities are digging in
December 2025
‘Cities need nature to be happy’: David Attenborough seeks out London’s hidden wildlife
Attenborough, 99, enthuses about Tube-riding pigeons, foxes, parakeets and others in Wild London for the BBC
September 2025
Country diary
Country diary: On harvest open day, celebration, relief – and flying gazebos
Brief letters
Boris Johnson’s integrity nowhere to be found in leaked files
Allotments are a safe space in times of crisis
Brief letters
Keir Starmer’s delivery is one nobody wants
Brief letters
Why our neighbours became good friends
Massive disparity in availability of allotments across UK, analysis reveals
‘I joined every list’: the gruelling search for a Glasgow allotment
August 2025
Brief letters
Not monsters, but truly monstrous
Brief letters
Defeated by drought: my bean-growing efforts have failed after 40 years of success
Allotments are hard work and fickle, but joyous too
Brief letters
Suffragettes and Palestine Action
The one change that worked
The one change that worked: I gave up my allotment – and accepted who I really am
