Get green-fingered this National Allotments Week

This week (August 13-19) is National Allotments Week. Resource Cumbria is encouraging local gardeners and allotment holders in the county to celebrate by taking up composting and exploring the benefits of compost - and is offering compost bins to residents from as little as £8.

Resource Cumbria is the waste partnership between Cumbria County Council and the six district councils.

More and more people are growing their own fruit and vegetables, from Gordon Ramsey to Alan Titchmarsh, Wallace and Gromit to characters in EastEnders. There`s never been a more popular time to join the organic revolution. And what better way to complete the organic cycle, than to grow fruit and veg using compost made from your own kitchen and garden waste.

There are around 330,000 allotment owners across the UK, growing all manner of produce and creating piles of organic waste. In fact, every year, two wheelbarrow loads full of organic waste are produced for every man, woman and child in England . That`s enough organic waste every year to fill the Royal Albert Hall more than 400 times over. This waste can be recycled into nutrient-rich compost for use on all manner of plants in allotments, gardens and homes.

It`s not only allotment holders who can join in the composting craze. Anyone who grows fruit and vegetables in their gardens, vegetable patches, borders or even planters, will find that adding home compost to the soil is a great way to help everything from rhubarb and raspberries to potatoes and pumpkins to grow strong and taste great. It takes between six and nine months to produce your own compost - but if you can`t wait that long, peat free and peat reduced composts (also made from recycled green materials), are another great ingredient for your garden and are available from most garden centres.

Neil Dixon of National Allotments Week, which aims to promote gardening and vegetable growing, says: "We are delighted to be working with Recycle Now and Resource Cumbria this year to celebrate National Allotments Week and the benefits of growing your own. Allotments have been experiencing a great revival in recent years and attract all sorts of people from young professionals, to families, to students, to the older generations.

"People are becoming more aware of where their food comes from and how it is grown. Composting is an easy step to take for anyone trying to do their bit for the environment or live a more sustainable lifestyle - and that`s especially true for anyone who has an allotment because they`re likely to be generating plenty of organic waste. And what`s more, compost makes for great fresh produce, so everyone`s a winner."

To find out more about what compost bins are available in your area, check out the composting section or phone 0845 077 0757 for more details.

To find out more about events in National Allotments Week log on to the national allotment week website.