National Allotment Society announces ‘Grow to Learn’ theme for National Allotments Week 2026

The National Allotment Society (NAS) has today announced the exciting theme for National Allotments Week 2026, taking place from 10–16 August 2026.

The new theme, Grow to Learn – Lifelong lessons from the allotment, will celebrate the educational, personal development, and well-being benefits of allotment gardening for people of all ages.

The theme highlights how allotments function as living classrooms, where learning happens through hands-on experience, shared knowledge, and connection with the natural world. Alongside practical growing skills, allotment gardening nurtures wider life skills including patience, resilience, curiosity, problem-solving, and teamwork, and, of course, physical wellbeing and food security, too.

Through time spent on the plot, individuals learn to adapt to challenges, understand seasonal change, and develop confidence and wellbeing alongside their crops. These informal learning experiences often span generations, making allotments unique spaces for lifelong learning, community connection, and personal growth.

By focusing on Grow to Learn, the National Allotment Society aims to reframe allotments not just as places to grow food, but as dynamic learning environments that support personal growth, mental and physical wellbeing, and food security.

National Allotments Week 2026 will feature a national digital campaign sharing stories and reflections from allotment holders and ambassadors, highlighting the many ways allotments act as living classrooms and places of continual learning.

Further details about National Allotments Week 2026 activities, resources, and opportunities to get involved will be announced in due course.

National Allotments Week takes place from 10–16 August 2026.

The National Allotment Society (NAS) is the UK’s leading organisation representing more allotment holders and leisure gardeners. NAS provides advice, guidance, and advocacy to support people in growing their own food, improving their well-being, and connecting with their communities.

With a nationwide network of 130,000 members, volunteers, and ambassadors, NAS works to make allotments engaging, inclusive, and rewarding — supporting physical and mental well-being, social connection, and environmental awareness through the simple act of growing.

For more information, visit www.thenas.org.uk

Another first for Asda. It's the first supermarket to stock 'vertical salads'

Asda has announced it's the first UK supermarket group to stock a range of bagged salads nationally and also online which have been grown in ‘vertical farms,’ which significantly reduces the amount of energy and water required to grow them.

A new British salad range brand, Homegrown, is being launched in Asda stores this week. The range includes three SKUs: 80g Mixed Salad, 60g Rocket and 80g Hot & Peppery Cress.

Grown using 90% less water than traditional farming, and powered with 100% renewable energy, the products grown all year round in Gloucestershire will be available nationally online and in 270 Asda stores nationwide from now onwards. 

The plants are grown in trays, stacked vertically, and are exposed to optimum growing conditions. They are fed nutrient-rich solutions, and by using temperature control and artificial lighting, Homegrown can achieve year-round crop production whilst also reducing water, chemicals used and land use.

Asda is continuously looking to offer its customers sustainable healthy options when they visit their stores and reduce its overall environmental impact. 

Asda recently published its ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) report for 2022, and this year marks 10 years of the Asda Supplier Sustainability Exchange, helping suppliers share knowledge and improve their own environmental impact.

Dom Edwards, who is Asda's Produce Director said: “We’re delighted to be the first British retailer supplying a vertically farmed bagged salad range at this kind of scale, enabling customers to buy nationally and online. As well as clear sustainability benefits, the salad leaves aren’t subject to adverse weather – resulting in better availability and more consistent quality for our customers.”

www.asda.com