A tribute to Alan Phillips, co-founder of BHOGG and Seedy Sunday
When his eldest daughter experienced distressing allergies, Alan Phillips, who has died aged 76, decided he wanted to provide his family with food free from chemicals. Thirty years ago, taking on an allotment was not a popular pastime, but Alan came to love his time on the plot. He learned about garden design and permaculture, and created something approaching a forest garden, with hazel and blackthorn hedges to shelter crops, and an extensive range of Sussex heritage apples, some of which are in the photograph above. He was happy to share his plot with wildlife, delighting in the birdsong, the occasional visit from a hedgehog, and allowing a fox to make its den under his shed. He would enjoy noticing the changes in the seasons, relishing them all.
Alan spent his career working in international human rights work, which you can read more about in his obituary in the Guardian here. He brought his impressive negotiation skills to community organizing, co-founding BHOGG and chairing the Brighton and Hove Allotment Federation. As Chair of Seedy Sunday, Alan turned Seedy Sunday into an event that has been replicated throughout the UK and beyond. Those who remember the early days have fond memories of his patience, calm determination, organizing skills and sense of humour. Many of us who met him in later years experienced his persuasive charm as he co-opted us onto one committee or another.
I joined Alan on his plot about 13 years ago, having rather cheekily offered to make raspberry jam in return for access to his wonderful fruit bushes that I’d spotted during a BHOGG seedling swap. He was generous, warm, and welcoming, and soon offered me a small bed on a rather overgrown section of his plot. As time passed and our friendship grew, he offered me more and more space, until I was an official co-worker. We would often do a ‘tour’ of our plots, noting what was growing well and what was failing. He would offer his advice based on the plant’s perspective: how it liked to grow, what it needed to thrive. We celebrated our successes and mourned our failures, shared seedlings when the slugs struck, and our harvest bounty when we had it. He gave me more apples than I could ever eat, and I gave him jam, chutney and cordial. We would sit and eat lunch together admiring the huge ash tree dominating his plot, watching the birds.
Alan was constantly learning about organic gardening and shared his knowledge very generously. He loved his times on the BHOGG community plot, and always enthusiastically welcomed new gardeners with humour and wisdom. He also loved to save and share seeds. He and I would have a Christmas ritual of giving each other home-saved seeds, his ‘Trail of Tears’ beans are growing in my plot as I type. He also loved to sit by the seed swap table at Seedy Sunday. He would prepare a demonstration of a broad bean at various stages to show intrigued children, and he was a fantastic chair of ‘Local Gardeners’ Question Time’.
I will always be grateful for the times Alan and I spent together on the allotment, and for all he has taught me about gardening and life in general. His wisdom and positive energy to promote organic gardening is radiating out across Brighton and beyond like ripples from a pond. BHOGG and Seedy Sunday have inspired and continue to inspire thousands of people and organisations. He has contributed so much to people and to the natural world.
Brighton and Hove Organic Gardening Group 