UK Heatwaves Reshape Allotments: Watermelons and Crop Losses
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- John Peel, a 62-year-old Oxfordshire allotment holder, called this "definitely the most difficult" season in his eight years — a late May frost destroyed nearly all his apples and soft fruit, drought scorched the plot, and flea beetles decimated his brassicas despite mesh covers.
- Nicola Scott, who has grown vegetables on allotments in Old Trafford, Manchester for more than 15 years, said "this shouldn't be happening in Manchester" after only one good bout of rain since June — her water butts ran dry and she is considering switching to chillies, aubergines and sweet potatoes.
- Emma, who manages two allotments near Bristol, said watering both plots by hand takes about two hours and 6,000 steps per week using cans from on-site troughs, and that badgers, rats and foxes have eaten her sweetcorn, parsnips and carrots.
- Guy Barter, the RHS chief horticulturist, said the drought could be driving badgers toward allotment crops because they cannot dig into baked-hard soil for earthworms, while slugs escape heat by burrowing deep into soil.
- Emma's plots near Bristol also produced her most successful harvest in years — watermelons ripened weeks earlier than usual, her sweet potatoes are the biggest she has grown in five years, and she grew cantaloupes for the first time.
- Christian Doyle, 80, in Arundel, Sussex, attributed her thriving plot to a goat willow that shades much of the site and to heavy mulching with compost, manure, straw, hay and wool — she has planted two silver birches, an alder and fruit trees to provide more shade in future summers.
Why it matters: UK allotment growers are losing traditional crops like tomatoes, potatoes, brassicas and peas to drought and pests, while some are inadvertently proving that Mediterranean crops like watermelons and sweet potatoes can thrive outdoors in England — prompting plans to plant more shade trees, mulch and drought-tolerant varieties.
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