YOUR FREE GIFTS
- Welcome Box + Free Trowel & Tote
- No Dig Patch
- Charles Dowding Course
- Running water
- Regular Organic Seeds (30+ varieties)
- Organic Plug Plants (10+ varieties)
- Monthly Events, Talks and Workshops
- Community Tools
Your deposit is to secure your allotment for the 2024 season, and is your pledge to the land. You will not be charged a joining fee now that you have paid your deposit. We will be in touch about next steps via email!
Description Description
Description Description
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Galleywood Meadow,
Chelmsford
our patch options
- Welcome Box + Free Trowel & Tote
- No Dig Patch
- Charles Dowding Course
- Step 1 - Get access to our online education platform
- Step 2 - We'll stay in touch with you over winter
- Step 3 - When you arrive on site your patch manager will show you around and you will pick your patch!
- Step 4 - Start your growing journey!
Monthly
- Mini - £9.99 a month
- Starter - £19.99 a month
- Couples - £34.99 a month
- Group - £49.99 a month
Annual
Mini - £109.89
Starter - £219.89
Couples - £384.89
Group - £549.89
around Chelmsford?
It's just a 15-minute drive from the center of Chelmsford. For cyclists, it's only a 10-minute ride from nearby Great Baddow. We're also a short drive from Bicknacre, Sandon, and Writtle.
Where to find us?
The site is easily accessible by public transport or car. It's just a 15-minute drive from the center of Chelmsford, or you can catch a bus from the city and be on site in around 25 minutes. For cyclists, it's only a 10-minute ride from nearby Great Baddow. We're also a short drive from Bicknacre, Sandon, and Writtle, making it convenient for gardeners from all around the Chelmsford area.
Google MapsLearn from the best
CHARLES DOWDING
Charles started experimenting with no dig back in 1982. He had an innate sense that it was the right thing to do. The results he achieved from the initial trials gave me encouragement to keep going. He was continually finding that no dig is great for producing wonderful harvests of healthy food. It’s good for the ecosystem and, it’s great for our health too.
KATE FORRESTER
She loves all the elements of seed propagation and planting out - it’s so exciting. She loves harvesting the goods, and has a huge weakness for all herbs is excited to start growing more flowers in the mix amongst the veg this year!
MITCH MCCULLOCH
He is on a mission to unearth the worlds tastiest and rarest edible plants. As a former chef with decades of service to the stove, he believes gardening is a thrilling and active way to stay alive. Few things are more rewarding than tending to a plant from seed to harvest and being in the garden fills him with a full sense of satisfaction and allows him to enter into a magical and spiritual place where he can truly experience the best of who he is.
ED MORRISON
Inspired by Charles Dowding, Ed started his first no dig patch over lockdown in his Grandma's back garden and has been hooked ever since! With a keen interest in sharing the knowledge of growing, Ed also shouts about how no dig, pesticide free growing benefits the soil, the environment and those growing and eating the produce!
What’s included in your membership
No need to wait on council waiting lists, just pay your joining fee and get growing.
No need to buy a shed, just use ours. It’s fully stocked with all you need.
We are creating real life growing communities, built around helping one another.
Our site Ethos is simple, no dig & no chemicals.
Learn everything you need to grow your own at our workshops, we also throw long table dinners and much more...
We provide you with over 30+ organic seed packets per year with a unique ensemble of fruit and veg.
Extra services & products we provide
A layer of compost to your allotment once a year makes sure the microorganisms in your soil stay happy aiding the growth of your plants.
Keep your plants hydrated and happy through the drier warmer seasons whether you're there or not.
Decomposing leaves, bark and woodchip help your patch retain moisture as well as keeping plant roots protected.
Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile. We’re here to help keep your patches weeds at bay. Whenever you need it!
If you are simply too busy to get to your patch to get your freshly made produce, let us know and we can pick it and pack it ready for you to swing by and grab it.
Natural fertiliser provides your plants with everything they need to succeed! It's an organic steroid for plants that contains over 60 trace elements to support good growth!
Great alternative to plastic tags which have issues of polluting local environments.
Harvested locally close to each site from sustainable hazel coppice. These poles are the perfect height to make wigwams for your climbing beans to grow up.
Wool is a fantastic by-product that isn't just great to deter slugs, it also keeps your plants warmer and is great for retaining water in the soil as well.
You'll be able to capture more carbon by recycling non-cooked food waste and cardboard, instead of sending it to recycling, your waste will benefit you.
Raving reviews from rootians
Had my plot since May. Love the site and the amazing views. Really pleased with the disabled accommodations - makes life so much easier. Perfect for beginner growers as everything is provided.
My happy place I absolutely love my allotment plot at Sugar loaf lane........it's a great place, lots of community spirit and everyone so very helpful and friendly.The kids love it..... It's good for everyone in the family to get involved............ Plant and watch them grow....... 😉
I'm new to vegetable growing and fancied having a go myself, a challenge if you like. There's a noticeable lack of sites available UK wide and this is were Roots step in, with plenty more sites in the future planned. I'm now 5 months into my first plot and can't thank the wonderful help and support I have received from the team and other members of the site.If you're like me and want to spend a little time out side in the fresh air once a week, then look no further. I've already had my first harvest and it feels so rewarding, I can't wait for next year to put my newly acquired skills to the test.5 stars all day long!
A friendly, helpful community. Roots provide an exceptional service. They guide and support the novice and provide all the equipment (including seeds and plug plants). This is a ‘good vibes’ only ethos and I love what they have achieved.
I’ve had the allotment now for just over a year, the help support and general community is amazing everything from the communal kit in the tool shed to the wood chips and compost and top soil, the regular plug plant party days and seeds all included in the £19 a month I pay means it didn’t really matter if I’d grown anything before or not, the community spirit is fabulous the education info on how to is great too, I’ve seemed to have accidentally started a small banana plantation too. This is my little piece of paradise, my time out and my quite place.
Outstanding community, with nature at it’s fore front.The most amazing location with all facilities well thought out and the most helpful team. A must if you are looking for that extra space to expand your growing knowledge of veg, fruit and flowers 🌸
Lovely people and founders, great atmosphere, all the right ideas (no dig!) and I have managed to grow a bumper harvest already!! Fully recommend getting involved if you want a supportive growing experience in a beautiful spot.
Great place for growing veg etc. You rent out a plot. When you arrive they give you a starter pack and teach you about planting and caring for things. You don't need any tools because they provide. Dog-friendliness: Dogs are allowed as long as they don't come off the leads
improve Your Health, Planet & Community
The NHS reccomends gardening to improve your physical health.
Regenerating the soil through creating No Dig Allotments.
Know what is in your food and feel good of where it comes from.
Our members say 65% made new friends while growing.
We teach local schools how to grow their own & much more.
93% of our members say they have felt a well-being boost.
Our Good Vibes Projects
Our growers donate their surplus produce every week to Crop Drop which is then collected and distributed to local charities and community projects that then cook up the food to support people that need it the most.
We gave them a free patch at Roots for their staff and member to enjoy the benefits of being outdoors. They also had a run down space in their courtyard which the Roots Team helped revamp for the 2024 growing season.
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One of our local primary school partners who visit the Roots site for interactive lessons by our Patch Manager. It’s a great way to get kids engaging with food product, especially since it’s not been taught in schools since 1945.
Saltford have a patch at Tuckers Meadow and come down a few times a year where they sow seeds, plant out plugs, weed the patch and harvest produce!
This was a total transformation of the space at Newbridge so the kids had access to green space they could grow direclty at their school! It was fantastic to then let the teachers manage and look after this patch to educate the children on how to grow their own.
Community
Focssed
Projects
frequently asked questions
Anything we can't answer for you here please email info@rootsallotments.com
Yes we offer discounts to people on Income Assistance, Disability Allowances and Council Assistance, or Students, NHS and Service Personnel. If you qualify for this, please email info@rootsallotments.com to get your custom discount code. Please note, we do not offer any discounts on the Micro plot. Only the Starter, Couples or Group plots.
Yes you are more than welcome to come and have a look around, we recommend coming down on a Saturday when our Patch Manager. Our patches are open 7 days a week and open and close around sunlight hours.
We will be building your patch over the next few months, you will then be invited to book your welcome slot and be able to grow from there!
We will be building your patch over the next few months, you will then be invited to book your welcome slot and be able to grow from there!
No there's no waiting list! If you reserve your patch now you'll be first in line to get on to the patch in the spring.