A GREEN group is appealing for householders who own unloved and underused gardens to help cope with Exmouth residents’ insatiable passion for growing their own fruit and veg.

A GREEN group is appealing for householders who own unloved and underused gardens to help cope with Exmouth residents’ insatiable passion for growing their own fruit and veg.

With 390 town hall-run allotments Exmouth Allotment Association is incredibly the second largest in the country, second only Birmingham.

But record numbers of Exmothians are growing there own food as homeowners feel the pinch – and Transition Town Exmouth aims to put owners of underused gardens in contact with people who want to grow their own food but don’t have access to a space.

The idea is that a gardener would gain access to a piece of land, bypassing the lengthy allotments queue.

TTE suggest that the owner and the gardener meet to lay out some guidelines could lay out some guidelines possibly including access and the sharing of produce.

Sam Forder, who wants to launch the Garden Share Scheme in Exmouth:

“Last year was the first time that I grew local food. This was in my gran’s garden.

“From that, I discovered that the food tastes a lot better than any food that I’ve ever bought from a supermarket.

“It also helped me to understand more about food and where it comes from. Since then, I’ve wanted to get another project going with growing food and helping other people to grow food.

“That’s why I’m now involved in a garden share project in Exmouth.”

A spokesman for TTE said: “The garden owner gets to look at a well maintained vegetable plot and to share in some of the produce, as well as being part of a sharing community initiative.

“It’s not a free gardening service. The plot is only for growing produce for allotments, where they can grown their own vegetables and fruit. “

If you are interested in either offering some space, or in using some for growing, go to http://www.landshare.net.

This is a national website set up by Channel 4’s Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall.

It allows you to find out about the concept as well as browse what is available in the Exmouth area by map, to register, download draft legal agreements and contact potential sharers.

If you are interested contact info@transitiontownexmouth.co.uk.