There were 7 kids in our family so lots of food . Me and my sister did the shopping every other day . From when i was 11 , 1969 onwards , i had 2 allotments and grew huge amounts of veg . Enough to keep 9 well fed . Most days i lugged my duffle bag back from the lott , full of veg . Some went in the kitchen cupboard and the rest was stored in my shed , i had my own shed from age 10 on .
The home grown veg meant we didn't ever go hungry , and that we could have treats now and then , like the vesta , my favourite was the beef curry one .
Another favourite was stuffed marrow .
The stuffing was mince beef with home grown onion , peas , carrot , swede . This we had with mashed spud , swede , french beans , sprouts , cabbage or whatever else was ready off the lotty or out of the shed .
The marrows , spuds , swede , onions , carrots etc would fill the shed and last through the winter till next years crop .
I gave up the lotties when i was 18 , as i was working 8 till 6 , 6 days a week and had no time to work the plots . We moved to Wales when i was 20 and i started growing veg again .
Home made mince pie was fantastic , could live on that alone , that or cheese flan we had at school . None of my mates liked it , but i did , so got them all to ask for extra helpings and then get them to go back for seconds . This may make some feel a bit sick , but i used to put all that flan in my duffle bag , the very same one i used for the veg , and eat it the rest of the week .
I hate to think what the inside of that bag was like , but that flan was fantastic .
