How it all began

September 2014 seems so long ago. It was like a glimpse into another world, as the chairman of the allotment society drove me through the gates and past the rows of beautifully-cultivated plots.

There were fruit trees weighed down with fat, ripe apples and pears. Brambles thick with blackberries. Onions laid out in regimented rows. Greenhouses blushing with tomatoes.

Then we came to an overgrown strip, bordered by a riot of weeds and nettles. "This one's yours if you want it," he said. "Just needs a bit of work."

"We'll take it," I said, with no idea what those three simple words would lead to.

This rite of passage came for the sum of just £16.50 a year. It was a no-brainer, I thought. We easily spend that on bland, tasteless produce in a single trip to the supermarket. I was in clover, as I surveyed the docks and nettles. Dig it over and we'll be quids in.

Saying this just needs a bit of work to get right turned out to be an understatement. It's taken days, weeks and months to turn the neglected strip into something productive, the beating heart of our new healthy, cheaper lifestyle.

But it's all been worth it. And between you and me, it's been fun most of time. If you can laugh off the lows as well as the highs, see the funny side of the odd infestation of sap sucking nasties and learn to tell your pH from your NPK without taking it all too seriously, you might just enjoy it too.