Maria and Jose were one of the winners at the Summer show in 2016, but unlike many of the previous winners, they haven't been on the allotments for that long. They got their plot on the Sopwell Mill site in January 2015 and it was in a pretty poor state as you can see from the first pictures.

They set to work building raised beds and a large shed almost all from salvaged pallets and found objects. Even some of the compost to fill the beds was free - Maria took advantage of the compost made available at the Council tip once a year.

With a lot of hard work from them (and a few friends) they have made it into a really lovely plot, that's not just prolific, but a nice place to hang out too. Not having a garden at their flat, they use it as a place to have a BBQ, and generally have an outdoor space they love being in. Their most recent addition was a pond, added last year, in the hope that frogs would colonise to help with the slug problems we all face!

They have inspired (and helped) another plotholder on the site to attempt a full pallet shed which is almost complete. I will post some pictures of this when I can!