What is an allotment?

Ranger Hamza: This place can be found in cities and towns.

Hanya: A park.

Ranger Hamza: Very good guess! But that's not what we're looking for today, Hanya. You can find lots of insects, birds and animals living there.

Isa: Um, a forest.

Ranger Hamza: A good guess, Isa, but it's not a forest either. You can grow lots of fruit and vegetables there.

Moyes: At the farm.

Ranger Hamza: A farm is a very good guess, but the place we're going to discover today is called an allotment.

All children: An allotment!

Ranger Hamza: Woohoo!

An allotment is like a big garden where people come to grow fruit, vegetables and other plants, too. Allotments are not only great places to grow food, they support lots of different wildlife, too. And people can come to them to get closer to nature.

We're starting our quest at a vegetable patch, but why is it covered in a net? Hanya knows why.

Hanya: Because then, no animals can eat them.

Ranger Hamza: Yeah, that's right. The netting is here to keep birds and animals from eating the vegetables. But it's OK, they've got plenty of other stuff to eat.

What kind of vegetables are growing in here?

Hanya: I think carrots.

Ranger Hamza: Good guess, Hanya. But that looks like Swiss chard, which tastes a little bit like spinach.

There's other tasty things growing around this patch too. There's kale and rhubarb. So, why do people grow their own vegetables?

Isa: So you can make food with them.

Moyes: It's so exciting to watch the plants grow.

Ranger Hamza: That's right, Ramblers. And healthy, home-grown food is great for the environment too since it doesn't need to travel on a plane or a lorry to get to your table.

But all these fruits and vegetables don't just grow on their own. They need lots of nutrients to help them flourish. And I've spotted somewhere where the plants on the allotment get their nutrients.

Isa: What is that?!

Ranger Hamza: This is called a compost heap and Moyes knows what it's for.

Moyes: It's where you recycle grass.

Ranger Hamza: It is a kind of recycling, Moyes, that's right. But it's not just grass. Dead leaves and other materials from the allotment, like offcuts of plants and vegetable peelings, get recycled here too.

The Ramblers want to take a closer look, so we're putting on our gloves to keep our hands safe and clean.

Over time, all the grass and the leaves in the heap break down into lovely compost - perfect for putting goodness back into the allotment. But good compost doesn't just make itself. It gets a bit of extra help from a wiggly friend.

Hanya: A worm!

Ranger Hamza: Worms! Do you think we can find any worms?

Isa: Yeah!

Hanya: Yeah.

Ranger Hamza: Time for the Ramblers to do some investigating.

Hanya: Found a worm…

Isa: I found one!

Ranger Hamza: Do you want to pick it up and show it to me?

Moyes: He's pink.

Isa: Found you one!

Ranger Hamza: Well done! That is so cool.

The compost heap is like a banquet for the worms and insects, with lots of yummy food for them to eat. They help to add air to the pile and break down things like leaves, grass trimmings and vegetables - recycling them into compost.