Zahabia and Alan: intergenerational allotment keepers and flourishing TikTok stars
They found fame by posting vegetable-growing tips on social media, but friendship is the real secret to their success
It’s the start of harvest season in Eccleshill, Bradford. Ripe tomatoes hang from vines and bulbous onions are waiting to be pulled out of the soil. The morning sun is shy, but the cool weather is welcome as Zahabia Naveed and Alan Wainwright inspect the allotment they have lovingly tended to for the past six years.
“These are so full,” says Zahabia, inspecting the tomato plants. “We should’ve picked them off earlier.”
Zahabia, 20, shows me around the plot with pride, pointing out some impressively proportioned vegetables, including a cucumber the size of a baguette. She explains that they’ll be shown at the Eccleshill annual Vegetable, Flower and Craft Show, alongside other produce they’ve grown. (Their onions ended up winning first place at the event.)
“Zahabia wants to grow okra and I’ve already got a few seeds in to start sowing in November,” says Alan, 78, fondly. “We have a big age gap, but we just get on. I’ve learned a lot from her.”
Zahabia and Alan’s relationship is a joy to see in person, but it is now attracting a growing following on TikTok. They began gardening together in 2019 after Zahabia’s mum, a colleague of Alan’s, asked her daughter if she could help him with his allotment. It’s only recently that they have become breakout social media stars, with videos racking up more than 200,000 views.
“I didn’t realise our friendship was that unique until we started posting on TikTok,” laughs Zahabia. “Alan isn’t my only friend in his 70s. I like old people. They know about life.”
Zahabia’s chosen pastime isn’t typical for someone of her age. According to research by the Birmingham District Allotments Confederation in 2024, 80% of allotment users are over 50. She describes herself as an old soul, however, and explains that helping Alan has led to her pursuing horticulture as a career. “I don’t know where I’d be if it wasn’t for him,” she says.
While Alan has 40-odd years of gardening experience up his sleeve, Zahabia brings a wealth of new ideas and content creation skills to the table.
Zahabia’s videos offer an honest window overview of the day-to-day routine of growing your own fruit and vegetables, from planting to picking. They also show her and Alan sharing stories, advice and snacks. So far, Alan has tried guavas, mangoes and Turkish delight on camera. He’s also picked up a few words of Pothwari, a language found in the Punjab region of Pakistan and spoken by Zahabia’s family.
“I think it’s lovely. I was told by my dad you should learn from the cradle to the grave,” says Alan. “That’s what I try to do.”
The allotment is blooming now, but it wasn’t always that way. When Alan took on the plot in 2018, the land was overgrown with weeds. “Allotments that the council own are ridden with bindweed and Japanese knotweed, which will smother and kill any plants,” says Zahabia. “It’s a problem for the whole country.”
Getting the plot in shape was a labour of love. Zahabia partly credits her and Alan’s success to the fact that the land is managed by an independent committee, not the local council.
“Our allotment area is well kept and everyone looks after it,” she says. “But the ones that Bradford council own are in such a bad condition that people can’t look after them without help, and there’s no support.”
That sense of community is easy to see as members pass and say hello. They’re all pleased that Zahabia and Alan’s videos are getting so much attention. One allotment user proudly tells me that Zahabia has fans as far away as Australia.
Zahabia says she has been stopped in the street in Bradford and elsewhere since she launched the TikTok account. “I appreciate the support,” she says. “I think it’s nice people are enjoying what Alan and I are doing.”
Alan never expected to stumble into online fame, but he speaks glowingly of Zahabia’s creativity while joking that she runs the show.
“We bounce off each other,” he says. “She’s getting me to learn what younger people are into nowadays.”
Their friendship clearly runs deep and extends far beyond the camera. Off the allotment, they often hang out in Alan’s back garden with his beloved fuchsias, a hobby he’s nurtured for decades.
“We talk a lot about politics and plants,” Zahabia says. “They’re our favourite topics.”
For Zahabia, her relationship with Alan and their TikTok posts are a simple way to put something positive into the world.
“Sometimes on social media there’s more animosity than you experience in real life,” she says. “That’s why it’s important that Alan and I make these videos — to show we’re all just the same.”
