Program enables UK consumers to manage allotments remotely

Abbey Parks' i-Grow program lets consumers in any part of the UK manage and reap the rewards of a hand-tended allotment in the heart of Lincolnshire.

Several years back we featured Le Verdure Del Mio Orto, an Italian venture offering ‘remote-controlled’ vegetable farming from afar. Now delivering something very similar is British Abbey Parks, whose i-Grow program lets consumers in any part of the UK manage and reap the rewards of a hand-tended allotment in the heart of Lincolnshire. Consumers begin by choosing from among several plots in Abbey Parks’ East Heckington, Lincolnshire, land; each plot is subdivided into eight allotments, each of which can produce eight rows of vegetables. They then choose from among more than 60 vegetables and herbs what they’d like to have planted. Abbey Parks then prepares the land, installs protective fencing, and plants, waters and cares for the crops organically; it also uploads photos to the online members’ forum for viewing from afar. When the produce is ready to be harvested, Abbey Parks delivers it free to the customer’s door within the UK, and it also offers an optional replant afterwards. Pricing is GBP 104 per year plus GBP 21 for eight rows of produce; post-harvest replants are GBP 3 per row. We’ve also seen numerous urban farming innovations, of course, designed to enable the growing of fresh produce in small urban spaces. Either way, though, the goal is getting wholesome, hand-grown food onto consumers’ tables, regardless of where they live. How could your brand help?