THE grand opening of 22 newly-created allotments in Wooldale will take place this weekend.

The Holme Valley Gardening Network will celebrate on Saturday and begin the task of cultivating the land.

The network was formed after an initial public meeting in Holmfirth in January 2009 where the field was offered to the Network as a local community project by the Co-operative Society of Wooldale.

Since then they have been working on legal structures, field plans and discussions with Wooldale and Holmfirth residents with the support of a mentor from the Allotment Regeneration Initiative.

And they’ve been a great success too – the plots of land are already oversubscribed, reflecting a national theme for more land to be made available for growing.

Organisers are hoping to use the land to offer opportunities for people new to growing to learn about forest gardening and how to create nutritious, home- cooked meals using produce from the allotment.

To find out more go along to the field behind the Co-operative Store in Wooldale on Saturday at 10am and join the celebrations.