Rachel Collyer on her allotment in Norwich Photo: Bill Smith

Spiralling supermarket food prices, growing demand for organic food and increasing awareness of green issues mean that more and more people are looking to grow their own food.

Not only are more people growing their own food in their back gardens, the city's allotments are in demand and there is a waiting list for people wanting to get their fingers green.

The city council says that waiting lists are growing all the time for Norwich's 1,450 allotment plots, which cost an average of £32.50 a year for a 250-square-metre plot.

Sara Martinez, authority spokeswoman, said: "More and more young people are becoming interested in having an allotment, whereas traditionally perhaps it might have been older generations, particularly men, who would have one for economic reasons.

"People are now more interested in knowing where their food comes from - parents like to know what they are feeding their children for example."

It is believed that an increasing number of young women are showing an interest in growing their own food. So much so that BBC Gardeners' World presenter Alys Fowler has just published a book encouraging young women to grow their own.

Rachel Collyer, a design, print and production officer at Norwich City Council, is one of the new allotment enthusiasts.

The 32-year-old, who looks after her 125 sq m allotment in Bluebell North, off The Avenues, with her friend Sarah Turner, said: "After a stressful day at work I find it really relaxing to be able to go down to the allotment and get in touch with nature.

"The fruit and vegetables we grow have a totally different flavour to ones you buy in a shop, they are so much fresher. We have met a lot of people too, it's like a little community and we have barbecues in the summer.

"It's great exercise - you definitely discover muscles you never knew you had after a couple of hours of digging. I think you can join the allotment association for £1.50 per year which gives you access to the on-site shop where you get really good discounts on everything you need from seeds to bird netting."

There are 18 allotment sites across Norwich, and plots, which vary in size from 150 to 500 sq m, are managed by the Green Spaces Team.

Chairwoman for Norwich In Bloom, Julie Brociek-Coulton, said: "There are definitely more people wanting allotments, although it is hard to specify how many people are actually waiting because a lot of the time people put their names on a lot of different waiting lists and then when an allotment comes up for them they don't take their name off the other lists. One of the things we are looking at is how to prioritise the lists and make them fairer and more accurate."

Source: Norwich Evening News