A piece of (organic) land to call your own

No longer just the preserve of flat-capped old boys, the allotment is taking the country by storm. The desire to connect with the land can be indulged by spending a few hours a week pottering about a vegetable patch. Gardening has been proven to be therapeutic and calming, even a defence against depression, not to mention the pleasure that comes from a glut of seasonal, organic fruit and vegetables gracing your kitchen table.

As many of us live in towns and cities and are unable get our thumbs green at home, allotments offer a solution. Under Section 23 of the Allotments Act of 1908, local councils are obliged to provide allotments to meet public demand. The Independent began a campaign in May to preserve this right after it was feared that the government would begin to sell off allotments. The Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has since promised that the service will not be scrapped. Despite councils creating new allotment sites, however, they are struggling to meet soaring numbers; last year’s review showed that for every 100 plots in use, there are 57 people waiting for plots.

Just looking around your local area shows there is plenty of available land to be grown on, both public and private. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, chef and campaigner, began encouraging communities to start growing collectively on disused public land. He took a step further by creating a landshare website. With over 60,000 members and counting, the scheme connects growers with no access to land to those with a bit of land spare. Both parties benefit; growers can feed their passion and owners enjoy a share of the bumper crop.

Eating seasonally means you eat a wider range of foods and it encourages you to be more creative and thrifty in making your food go as far as possible. And best of all it’s virtually free; with the main ingredient being good old-fashioned elbow grease. Growing your own vegetables allows you to use piecemeal techniques to look after the health of your produce and the land you’re growing on. Here are some top tips for growing organically:

-          Get to know your soil. Grow plants that suit the soil conditions, rather than trying to adjust the soil with improvers too drastically.

-          Practise crop rotation. This means not planting a crop from the same family in the same site for at least three years. This improves soil fertility and reduces pests and disease.

-          Use natural fertilizers and manure instead of strong chemical fertilizers. Synthetic chemicals penetrate the skins of plants and stay there - even if they have been scrubbed.

-          Grow your own compost from garden and kitchen waste. The compost can be used to enrich your soil and for potting mixes and you’ll be reducing the amount of waste that goes to landfill at the same time.

-          Prune your plants and check for pests regularly, removing them physically if you can. Use natural traps such as beer bait for slugs.

For detailed month-by-month advice for going organic in your allotment, visit the Soil Association’s Grow Organic website.

You Are What You Wear

There is no more important journey than the one from field to fashion. The textiles industry was worth $46.05 billion worldwide in 2009 and cotton fibre makes up half of this market. There has long been a focus on the working conditions of sweatshop employees in developing countries. There is an equally important area - often overlooked - not only how clothes are manufactured but how the raw materials are grown.

The market for organic clothes is small but rapidly growing. It increased by 35% from 2008 to 2009, from $3.2bn to $4.3bn. Despite these figures, the importance of going organic in the textiles industry somehow often fails to convince the average consumer. Cotton has been seen as a pure and natural product and choosing cotton avoids using oil-based synthetic fibres such as nylon and polyester. But the consumption of traditionally produced cotton in some ways actually reinforces rather than breaks our reliance on polluting and non-renewable fossil fuels. The systemic use of oil-based fertilisers and pesticides on temperamental cotton crops is not sustainable, for example. The more sustainable techniques used in organic farming rely on natural yield-increasing farming methods.

Livia Firth, wife of actor Colin Firth and Creative Director of Eco Age, has highlighted not only the potential of recycling fabrics but also the importance of sourcing new ones carefully. She has been the embodiment of ethical fashion in recent years. From red carpet event to red carpet event, Livia has wowed the world’s press with her combination of reworked vintage and organic clothing. When Colin’s star was put down on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame at the beginning of this year, she donned an entirely organic outfit for the occasion. Eco-fashion has failed to make the leap from ethics to aesthetics in the past; organic cotton persistently conjures up images of unflattering cuts, dull colours and drab customers. Livia has transformed this into an innovative and sophisticated way of living.

However, you do not necessarily have to have designers at your beck-and-call in order to inject a little green into your wardrobe. Although the high street has begun catering to the organic clothes trend, these products are still mostly found in shops’ nooks and crannies.  The internet is a saving grace here, for it nurtures small brands to become the next Big Thing. The fantastic Offset Warehouse, runner-up in this year’s Observer Ethical Awards, not only offers a wide range of clothes and accessories but also lengths of raw material. At Rawganic, there’s nothing we love more than getting stuck-in ourselves, so blow the dust off your sewing machines and feed your creative side. With prices that won’t break the bank, Beaumont Organic will fend off those fashionista cravings. This kind of retail therapy not only reaps personal rewards but also sends a clear message to the fashion industry. And don’t forget Rawganic organic cotton facial wipes, with organic green tea and aloe vera; by having a gentle cleanse you can make an immediate switch to organic cotton and with a retail price of £ 2.55 per pack of 25, they don’t cost the earth.