Tesco has hopped on to the back of the rising trend for grow-your-own veg in a new plan to rent out allotments.
The supermarket giant has applied for planning permission to create allotments at its Dobbies Garden Centres to help meet the widespread demand for growing space.
As the credit crunch has bitten harder, consumers have strived, in some cases, for self-sufficiency by growing their own vegetables - borne out by the vast increase in seed sales.
The retailer has applied for planning permission to create 30 allotments on land next to its Southport store in Lancashire, with plots available to rent from next spring if permission is granted.
Tesco will also retail starter kits to get customers growing, also putting all the products and tools they need on sale. The retailer has also started selling chickens, hens and chicken coops as part of the venture.
Susan MacDonald, a Dobbies director, told The Telegraph: "While it's probably a step too far to think that consumers will be following the example of [The Good Life’s] Tom and Barbara Good and turn their back gardens into farms, keeping chickens seems to be striking a chord with some of our customers."
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