As we gallop into spring and anticipate summer, the weather is noticeably changing, and the outdoor life has returned appealing. Not only is this true for ourselves, it is also the case for our planted friends. For whilst the hardy cabbages and kale, broad beans and leeks, parsnips and sprouts can tough it out over winter, most veggies prefer to hide away from the cold, or else be defeated by its cruel conditions. Well, now that the occasional chill is increasingly surpassed by lengthy light and healthy sun, as people head back outside, so too do an abundance of planted foods. 

It is of course easy to sit it out and pick it up in your supermarket big shop, but it’s plenty more satisfying and delicious to join in and plant them yourself. In Leeds, there are opportunities to do this at various allotments and community groups, or you could set aside a section of your garden, or your balcony, or even a window shelf for growing. Certain shops become filled with seeds, and there are some super ones to get a great organic selection from. And if you still don’t get around to greening your fingers, there are some terrific little places to head to for the finished local produce. 

Let’s start by sowing the seeds of love. If you’ve never grown your own before, it can feel slightly daunting to begin with, but there is plenty of help at hand, and it soon becomes apparent that it’s easier than you might think. Large stores add packets to their shelves to buy anonymously, but there are also smaller specialists offering advice and information with their top-notch arrays of bulbs and seeds, plus accompanying pots and tools too. 

The most immediate place one might think of visiting to stock up is the trusty garden centre, and indeed in and around Leeds there are some excellent ones taking care of your requirements. Popular examples are High Trees, a fab family run nursery in Horsforth, and Rothwell Garden Centre, who provide a proper personal service. Another lovely plant stocking trip can be had in intimate surroundings at The Green Yard in Headingley’s HEART, and for a wider expanse, The Arium at Scarcroft is 90,000 square meters of gardening goodness to get happily lost in. 

But what to buy? As much as the staff can suggest and the packets can instruct, it’s nice to have an idea of what to grow when. As a simple guide, here are some super Spring sowers: in April and May, popular vegetables like carrots and potatoes can get going, alongside brassicas that could be broccoli and cauliflower, roots including beetroot and turnips, leaves like spinach and chard, salads such as lettuce and rocket, and herbs of basil and coriander. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg lettuce, as throughout the year this country will give the variable conditions to eat your own colourful goodies, ranging from onion and garlic to strawberries and fruit trees. The adventurous and experimental or experienced and skilful can take it even further, using polytunnels and greenhouses for aubergines, chillies, cucumbers, tomatoes and more.

If you have space at home, then you can get cracking right there, or to head elsewhere Leeds provides a host of options. Allotments cost a pittance for what they offer, and the city council have 101 sites, each with several plots of land to share out, all across Leeds, north south east and west. Despite the seemingly ample numbers, the demand means that they are often filled, and interest must be expressed in advance to gain a spot on a waiting list; it’s worth doing, as a plot will become available and no doubt cherished when yours.

Fortunately, there is even more green space put to great growing use, with community activity creating allotments and gardens too. At the likes of Armley Ridge Road Allotments and Church Lane Allotments, with 150 plots between them, and at other sites besides, amateur gardeners have the opportunity to take up their own space and grow their own veg in a peaceful and organised setting. 

Others encourage communal growing as positive projects to improve areas and learn new skills. Of those doing amazing work with deprived places, disadvantaged people, interested volunteers, and garden lovers, check out Green Action Society, Hyde Park Source, Bedford Fields Community Forest, St Stephens Community Gardens, Ingram Gardens Community Centre, Woodhouse Community Growers, Kirkstall Community Garden, Cross Green Community Group, Crag House Farm, REAP, Hollybush Conservation Centre and Killingbeck Community Project to name but a dozen. Phew!

The flavour of your naturally grown goods is a taste sensation, far surpassing purchases off the national shelf, and besides eating your own, there are places in Leeds where you can pick up proper produce grown locally. Kirkgate Market houses many stalls stocking great greengroceries, including Neil’s and Spice Corner. Natural food shops such as Millie’s and Out of this World bring in farmed favourite fruit and veg from the surrounding area. And at farmers markets in and out of the centre there are a large selection of fresh deliciousness direct from source.

But if you can, do it yourself. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced hand, wanting your own plot for ‘me time’ or volunteering for community involvement, the connection with nature of all the above brings rich rewards. The fruits and veg of your labour make for a wonderful sense of fulfilment when the abundance of produce begin to rise from plot to plate.