It’s fantastic – I tell everyone I have my own health spa and gymnasium.”

Irene Vidler speaks passionately about her allotment in Northcliffe Park, Shipley, which she has tended for years.

It was her husband Jim who originally signed up for the plot, and at the time Irene was not interested. “But when Jim was in hospital he worried about his potatoes, so I offered to help,” she says. “After that I was hooked.”

Now she spends as much time as possible at her “urban oasis” growing vegetables, herbs and fruit. Jim, who now suffers from dementia, accompanies her.

“We cannot go to many places, so it is lovely to come here, enjoy the fresh air and meet people,” adds Irene, who is secretary of Northcliffe Allotments Society. “We have a pond and bird tables, which are interesting for my grandchildren.”

This week TV turned its attention to allotments, with The Big Allotment Challenge, in which nine pairs of passionate amateur gardeners compete to be crowned Britain’s Best Growers. It is seen as the green-fingered equivalent to the Great British Bake Off.

In Bradford, the number of people growing their own is booming. Cultivating an allotment is becoming an increasingly popular pastime as more and more people take it up, reaping the benefits of fresh air, exercise and a harvest of fresh produce.

There are around 1,231 allotments across the district. The number does not include those in Keighley, Ilkley, Haworth and Silsden, where the running was taken over by parish councils in 2010. Demand is rocketing.

“Ten years ago we were struggling to let plots, but there has been an upturn in the numbers wanting them,” says Belinda Gaynor, Bradford Council’s operational estate manager, who has responsibility for allotments. Of the local authority’s 36 sites, 15 are full, including Shipley, Queensbury, Idle, Thackley and Wyke.

An overhaul of Bradford’s allotment service has resulted in neglected sites being cleared and waiting lists across the district being reduced.

Sites with vacancies – which tend to be in inner city areas – often have overgrown plots, but if someone expresses a desire to cultivate it, the Council will clear it and prepare it for them.

“We take the hard work away from them,” says Belinda. “We still have sites with vacancies and want to make sure they are used to maximum capacity.

“We have been focusing on getting the basics right such as plot inspections and making sure that once a plot becomes vacant we turn it around quickly.”

She adds: “Following our review, the process is now more streamlined and is a far more effective way of managing allotments.”

The Council is also taking steps to create more sites for allotments. Beech Grove housing development in Undercliffe includes allotments set alongside the 90 new homes. “This site should come on stream later this year and we are talking to Bradford Community Environment Project about the running of it,” says Belinda.

Also this year, officers are speaking to community groups about the possibility of their taking over Council land and creating allotments for themselves. “They often have access to funding that we don’t,” says Belinda.

Marilyn Taylor, who helped form Bradford’s Allotments Action Group after becoming dissatisfied with a lack of urgency from the Council, says the group is “very pleased” with the progress made.

“The services have improved tremendously,” she says. “Some really overgrown sites have been cleared. They are actively attempting to fill the sites and in many cases they are completely full.”

Marilyn tends a plot at Bullroyd Allotments in Allerton, and is chairman of the site’s allotment association. She grows crops including peas, rhubarb, broad beans and shallots. “It is hard work and you need to keep it up, but most people say it is a lovely way of winding down,” she says. “I have a freezer full of fresh produce and I never buy jam.”

There are no spare plots at the site. “If one becomes free it is taken by someone from the waiting list,” she says.

Veronique Raingeval, who gardens at Heaton Allotments loves having a plot.

“It just fantastic, it is very relaxing. It great to see things grow. It gives you an understanding of your connection to nature.”

She grows a variety of crops including salads, potatoes, onions and squashes. “I get a lot of produce which helps to save money,” she says. “I have a wormery too, and use the liquid from that for the soil. It is wonderful knowing where things have come from.”

The Big Allotment Challenge is on BBC2 on Tuesday at 8pm.