Wednesday, 6 April 2016
Sunday, 20 March 2016
How to be a Flower Farmer!!
On Tuesday I pootled over to Common Farm Flowers, home of Georgie Newbery and her team who, in the last 6 years, have grown their flower farming and floristry business from a barrow in their lane to a business turning over serious sums of money. When I first visited Common Farm it was at the beginning of this momentous journey and I am enormously proud to have played a tiny part in where it is today, even if most of that part was nagging about good use of compost teas to keep the soil healthy.
Georgie is neither a trained gardener or a trained florist, but what she is, is a woman driven by wanting financial success and with natural green fingers and an eye for colour and form that could only come from someone who began their career working for American Vogue in Paris. She understands colour, knowing instinctively how to give her customer, be it a bride, someone wanting bouquets of posies, or even funeral clients, exactly what they need. The range of flowers grown at Common Farm is huge, and this all helps to make the Common Farm style instantly recognisable.
I went on this course because I was intrigued by what the title of "How to be a Flower Farmer", which lets be honest, could be a week's worth of work and still in no way have covered everything. I know this course is one run at Common Farm often due to demand, so nosiness was my real reason for going along. But also, knowing Georgie, I suspected it would be very real and honest. I was not to be let down.
Throughout the day the most important message was that although flower farming is a wonderful job, it has to be entered into as a business, and one that must make you a living, whatever that living might need to be. For a few people on the course this was obviously something they hadn't really thought about, with far more thought having gone into what to grow, how and where. Over and again we were brought back to the importance of working out your business model and your market, whilst ensuring that those things would make you a living.
Earlier in the year I had a conversation with someone involved with Fairtrade here in Bristol, and a comment made by that person concerned me greatly. I was horrified that an organisation was supporting Fairtrade flowers before homegrown for a Valentines campaign in Bristol and one of the reasons I was given was that growers in Africa and South America are being helped by the Fairtrade trade to feed and educate their families whereas she doubted that was a concern of any flower grower in the UK. Flower growing, it seemed, was a hobby that a few might be making some money from, but it wasn't an important part of a family income. I found this completely infuriating. I know many flower farmers for whom their flowery income is their only income and who also employ several others who are then, of course, reliant on that business too. Flower farming isn't, for most at least, a jolly game that is played at, in between lunches and days out at events and courses, but a serious business often supporting rural economies as well as adding to them. I made this point and suggested they visit various flower farms in the area, none of whom they had even investigated. They seemed unaware that the industry even existed until our conversation, let alone that there are more than a dozen flower farms, that I am aware of, within a 50 mile radius of Bristol.
And so I was relieved to see that Georgie approached becoming a flower farmer by explaining that becoming a business was the most important part, before a seed is sown or a bulb planted. For flower farming to be taken seriously as an industry it needs to show that it has serious business credentials and that it can be a job that supports families,feeding into local economies and making them brighter and more exciting places to be in business within. Before growing anything, there is the need to decide what your market is, where that might be and how your flowers are going to get there. This depends on what it is you need to earn so whereas for some selling via mail order at high end prices may bring in what is needed, whereas for others selling through farmers markets might be a great way to turn over the required funds. Of course it's also important to look at ways to add value to your flowers, usually by working on wedding flowers but also looking at running courses, giving talks, and ensuring that key moments in the year, such as Valentines, are maximised on and that your customers know that they can trust your product at all times throughout the year.
So what did I learn? Well mainly that I want to grow flowers for a living at some point in the, probably quite far, future, but that I need a solid and sensible business plan before I even consider sowing a seed because there is nothing rude about demanding a living from doing something you love. A fair and valid point!!
Georgie is neither a trained gardener or a trained florist, but what she is, is a woman driven by wanting financial success and with natural green fingers and an eye for colour and form that could only come from someone who began their career working for American Vogue in Paris. She understands colour, knowing instinctively how to give her customer, be it a bride, someone wanting bouquets of posies, or even funeral clients, exactly what they need. The range of flowers grown at Common Farm is huge, and this all helps to make the Common Farm style instantly recognisable.
I went on this course because I was intrigued by what the title of "How to be a Flower Farmer", which lets be honest, could be a week's worth of work and still in no way have covered everything. I know this course is one run at Common Farm often due to demand, so nosiness was my real reason for going along. But also, knowing Georgie, I suspected it would be very real and honest. I was not to be let down.
Throughout the day the most important message was that although flower farming is a wonderful job, it has to be entered into as a business, and one that must make you a living, whatever that living might need to be. For a few people on the course this was obviously something they hadn't really thought about, with far more thought having gone into what to grow, how and where. Over and again we were brought back to the importance of working out your business model and your market, whilst ensuring that those things would make you a living.
Earlier in the year I had a conversation with someone involved with Fairtrade here in Bristol, and a comment made by that person concerned me greatly. I was horrified that an organisation was supporting Fairtrade flowers before homegrown for a Valentines campaign in Bristol and one of the reasons I was given was that growers in Africa and South America are being helped by the Fairtrade trade to feed and educate their families whereas she doubted that was a concern of any flower grower in the UK. Flower growing, it seemed, was a hobby that a few might be making some money from, but it wasn't an important part of a family income. I found this completely infuriating. I know many flower farmers for whom their flowery income is their only income and who also employ several others who are then, of course, reliant on that business too. Flower farming isn't, for most at least, a jolly game that is played at, in between lunches and days out at events and courses, but a serious business often supporting rural economies as well as adding to them. I made this point and suggested they visit various flower farms in the area, none of whom they had even investigated. They seemed unaware that the industry even existed until our conversation, let alone that there are more than a dozen flower farms, that I am aware of, within a 50 mile radius of Bristol.
And so I was relieved to see that Georgie approached becoming a flower farmer by explaining that becoming a business was the most important part, before a seed is sown or a bulb planted. For flower farming to be taken seriously as an industry it needs to show that it has serious business credentials and that it can be a job that supports families,feeding into local economies and making them brighter and more exciting places to be in business within. Before growing anything, there is the need to decide what your market is, where that might be and how your flowers are going to get there. This depends on what it is you need to earn so whereas for some selling via mail order at high end prices may bring in what is needed, whereas for others selling through farmers markets might be a great way to turn over the required funds. Of course it's also important to look at ways to add value to your flowers, usually by working on wedding flowers but also looking at running courses, giving talks, and ensuring that key moments in the year, such as Valentines, are maximised on and that your customers know that they can trust your product at all times throughout the year.
Sunday, 6 March 2016
New Tools!!
Recently Poundland released a range of gardening tools that are endorsed by Charlie Dimmock. The tools are at the usual Poundland price point of £1, and there has been some discussion around how good they would be or whether they might just fall apart as soon as they are used. There have been some very unpleasant comments made on social media about not just these tools, but also about the store in general and those who it's assumed fall into the demographic that shop there. Not surprisingly I found that really distasteful, with people's social assumptions coming to the fore, most of which were assumptions that were completely unfounded. I shop in Poundland from time to time!!
Charlie Dimmock has clearly said they are good quality, but with all the nay sayers I decided there was only one way to see what they are like, and that, of course, was to go and buy some and give them a go. So here's what I bought....
Just to clarify I bought a pair of what are called pruning shears but are basically secateurs, a hand fork, a cultivation/ weeding type tool, a hanging basket and a pair of pots with cloche tops which I was very pleased to see had ventilation in the top.
Today I used them.
And I was impressed. I began by sowing some of Thompson and Morgan's new Antirrhinum variety, Lucky Lips, into one of the pots that come with cloche lids. The pots are sturdy and the lids have ventilation which is amazing for 50p per unit. I've popped them onto a windowsill and I'm looking forward to watching them germinate.
Now I know it's early to sow things outside but I found some Nigella seeds in 2 varieties, Mulberry Rose from Pennards and Midnight from Thompson and Morgan, and I had an area at the back of the garden that really needed addressing. There's a lot of mind your own business in our garden that needs bringing under control, and in this area it's bad, so I used the cultivator and the fork to clear it out.
And they did a grand job!! Not only did the fork put up with my very typical Bristol clay beds, but the cultivation tool ripped through bamboo root and pulled it all out, as well as clearing lots of the mind your own business and the cleavers that are starting to germinate. Hopefully that area will be full of Nigella and Calendula in a few months.
I also sowed Thompson and Morgan's new Nastutium for hanging baskets, Cream Troika, straight into the hanging basket, which I was pleased to see had drainage holes already and a really sturdy chain. I've popped that into the greenhouse, and hope those seeds will pop through soon, although I hope they'll wait until after the cold snap we keep hearing about.
I'm guessing now that some people will be wondering why I have done this?
The simple truth is that for many of the communities I work with, and with many people I speak to, the cost of tools is one of the barriers to gardening. Firstly people often don't know what they need, and then when they work that out, having costed it up at perhaps one of the DIY superstores, financially it's just not affordable. Even looking at B&Q's cheaper range, the cost of garden fork, spade, hand tools, a rake and a fairly basic pair of secateurs is at least £50, which is quite a considerable investment, particularly if gardening is something that is not within a person's comfort zone, or something they've ever tried before. For people struggling to pay bills, put a roof over their families head, hold down jobs that might have unsociable hours, and look after families generally, these tools will help break down that barrier and enable gardening to be a part of their lives. In the knowledge that gardening, being outside and taking gentle exercise is good for both our physical and mental health, getting stressed out people out into the garden and growing something, has to be positive for healthy cities.
Of course the great thing about the internet is that there is a lot of good information out there about how to garden, on You Tube, in blogs and vlogs. You Tube channels like @10MinGardener and his learn-how-to-garden.com and Sean Cameron's youtube.com/thehortchannel.com are great ways of learning how to garden by following well researched how to type posts on line. There are also lots of bloggers who visit gardens and talk about their gardens which are often truly inspirational too. I have a whole raft of these online resources that I recommend to people and even if they don't have access to the Internet at home, community centres and libraries are great places to access these resources and are all well used here in Bristol.
So now I know these tools are also good quality and useable, the work to get people gardening here goes on with another barrier begun to be broken down. Well done Poundland!!
Wednesday, 2 March 2016
An Adventure in Aquaponics
On Monday I had an aquaponics unit arrive.
The reasons behind why will be shared at some point, but I think it's fair to say I am excited to have the opportunity to try to grow in this soilless system, if only because it seems so alien to me. Growing for me is about compost, mulching, watering and weeding, but here I will be focusing on bacteria levels, ammonia, nitrates and pH levels, testing these things daily with little chemistry type kits and keeping a diary of all the results.
So Sara, I hear you ask, why? Well here is the answer.
We want people to grow.
We want people to learn and engage with where their food comes from.
We know many young people have an issue with traditional gardening and growing being fuddy duddy and the thing that old men do on allotments and grannies do in their gardens.
We know lots of people have no space to garden in.
Surely then aquaponics, which can be a tiny unit that can be bought as a kit, is far more techy than an allotment could ever be and grows fresh, leafy greens, salads and herbs which are often quite expensve to buy, could be the begining of the answer?
So I do not have all the answers to these questions but I am working on them. In the meantime I have basil and coriander growing away madly, and possibly proving that I need the grow lights sooner rather than later as they do appear to be stretching rather than growing much leaf! I will soon be sowing a selection of leaves into coir pellets as the next crop and will spend some of my time over the summer working out what grows and what doesn't, whilst panicking about how the fish, which are arriving in a couple of weeks, are on an almost hourly basis, whilst wrangling with the chemistry of the whole system.
I have to say a huge thank you to my pals at Grow Bristol for providing the system, setting it up and responding quickly to every minor panic so far.
And for further information you can check out the British Aquaponics Association, whose website may become my bible equivalent in the next few months.
The reasons behind why will be shared at some point, but I think it's fair to say I am excited to have the opportunity to try to grow in this soilless system, if only because it seems so alien to me. Growing for me is about compost, mulching, watering and weeding, but here I will be focusing on bacteria levels, ammonia, nitrates and pH levels, testing these things daily with little chemistry type kits and keeping a diary of all the results.
So Sara, I hear you ask, why? Well here is the answer.
We want people to grow.
We want people to learn and engage with where their food comes from.
We know many young people have an issue with traditional gardening and growing being fuddy duddy and the thing that old men do on allotments and grannies do in their gardens.
We know lots of people have no space to garden in.
Surely then aquaponics, which can be a tiny unit that can be bought as a kit, is far more techy than an allotment could ever be and grows fresh, leafy greens, salads and herbs which are often quite expensve to buy, could be the begining of the answer?
So I do not have all the answers to these questions but I am working on them. In the meantime I have basil and coriander growing away madly, and possibly proving that I need the grow lights sooner rather than later as they do appear to be stretching rather than growing much leaf! I will soon be sowing a selection of leaves into coir pellets as the next crop and will spend some of my time over the summer working out what grows and what doesn't, whilst panicking about how the fish, which are arriving in a couple of weeks, are on an almost hourly basis, whilst wrangling with the chemistry of the whole system.
I have to say a huge thank you to my pals at Grow Bristol for providing the system, setting it up and responding quickly to every minor panic so far.
And for further information you can check out the British Aquaponics Association, whose website may become my bible equivalent in the next few months.
Saturday, 27 February 2016
The Parks Conundrum
Last week I attended an RHS Britain in Bloom Seminar where much of what was spoken of was the incredible work being done by the many friends of parks groups across the country and the volunteers who spend huge amounts of their time working in those parks and gardens. Of course often britain in bloom is led by councils, but in one form or another it relies on a huge force of volunteers to do much of the manual labour and create these amazing town centres and neighbourhoods that win awards each year.
So first some facts I picked up....
Britain in Bloom sees over 28,000 volunteers each do an average of 65.9 hours in parks countrywide. Each volunteer hour is worth £13.10.
That's over 915,000 volunteering days.
There are 571 groups working in parks across the UK,-a number which has steadily increased since numbers began in 2006, to now have 30% more active groups across the country.
The economic value of friends of parks group is seen as £45.7million
The average group looks after 18 acres.
last year they planted over 3 million bulbs.
Between them they have raised over £1.5 million for parks across the UK.
So this must be all good?
Well yes of course it is. Parks groups are a vital part of park teams today, and are, without a doubt, the driving force behind changes in parks nationwide. Just here in Bristol we have seen parks address anti-social behaviour through planting, gain village green status, become community assets handed over to communities to run. We even have an Edible Park that I am working on with Incredible Edible Bristol, leased to us for 5 years. There are equivalent places all across the UK, that are seeing people power move the parks movement forwards.
But what seemed slightly sad to me, and looking around the city here I see this in reality, is that the successful parks groups are in a very definite demographic and whilst this is not in itself an issue, I wonder how we make these groups more diverse and bring in our rich minority cultures to the conversation. After all our parks are for all, rich, poor, young and old and historically were there to ensure that there was green space in our cities for all to enjoy. With 70% of our population likely to live in urban and suburban areas by 2050, and in the knowledge that we need nature in our lives to be well both mentally and physically, we need to ensure that parks don't become seen as the home of the middle classes and that they remain truly accessible to all.
My question is how do we achieve this in a way that isn't patronising and top down? How do we engage communities with parks and gardens when they feel disengaged. And more importantly how do we ensure that those spaces are what is needed by all the communities in a city? Where it's great to see anti-social behaviour being dealt with by introducing large swathes of planting to discourage certain elements, how do we engage with the problems to ensure they have a place to go. By doing that are we just squeezing that anti-social behaviour into a park where there is no park group to deal with those issues?
For certain working in parks is not easy. Our Incredible Edible Bristol Edible Park is right in the middle of the city and for sure has been a space that has seen huge issues in it. When we took it over the park was hidden behind a huge swathe of shrubs that had never been pruned and it was impossible to see into the space. We spent the first day we were there collecting needles, tins that had been used to take crack, bottles, cans and rubbish whilst chopping back the undergrowth to make the space feel safer and more inclusive. It would have been easy to chase the addicts and the drinkers from the space, but rather than doing that and alienating people, we have worked around and with some really challenging people, all of whom we are filling the park with food for. We have taken specialist advice, learnt where to signpost people to, have emergency numbers and, I hope, we are completely non judgemental. There have been moments of real fear, but also of quite extraordinary joy as we have gained trust whilst starting to create a space which I hope will be one that is completely unique.
With parks having lost a total of £59million in cuts and with some cities such as Liverpool, which in 2 years will have a parks budget of zero, our parks are in real danger. Bit it isn't just our parks that are in danger. Horticulture has traditionally been taught by parks teams, taking on apprentices and working with them as they rose through the ranks. Whilst bedding schemes and seaside type planting may not be to all our tastes, this was the place where gardening professionals began their careers, sowing seeds and taking cuttings, planting, weeding, maintaining in all weathersas part of a team that took huge pride in it's work.The loss of these teams is not only sad for horticulture either, but for the towns and cities that no longe have the joy of their parks and gardens being cared for by real horticulturists who knew when and why to carry out tasks based on the seasons, rather than vans full of slash and burn type gardeners who are either on a mower or 'pruning' with a hedge trimmer. With the lack of funds available to parks, who knows where this crisis might lead, but whilst many people's view of amenity horticulture is that of the slash and burn, how can we expect young people to see horticulture as a valid career choice I wonder?
I digress. What is so great about Britain in Bloom is the way it has increased civic pride and to some extent moved responsibilty for our parks and gardens into the hands of people. These shared spaces, although sadly missing in many places their parkies and park teams, are being pushed forwards in exciting ways by people, proving that in reality people can make real change when given the opportunity, which Bloom has definitely begun to make possible. What I personally would like to see is the RHS ensuring that the parks in our towns and cities more marginalised areas can also have local people working on them with the support of the RHS where needed and bringing in other local organisations to help where appropriate. Wouldn't it be great to see local schools, youth groups and minority groups working alongside what are left of parks teams, to not only make beautiful spaces but also to learn horticultural skills which could lead to employment or an exciting new hobby. If we are serious about reinvigorating horticulture and keeping our public parks and gardens exciting and inclusive spaces, isn't this the way to move forwards?
So first some facts I picked up....
Britain in Bloom sees over 28,000 volunteers each do an average of 65.9 hours in parks countrywide. Each volunteer hour is worth £13.10.
That's over 915,000 volunteering days.
There are 571 groups working in parks across the UK,-a number which has steadily increased since numbers began in 2006, to now have 30% more active groups across the country.
The economic value of friends of parks group is seen as £45.7million
The average group looks after 18 acres.
last year they planted over 3 million bulbs.
Between them they have raised over £1.5 million for parks across the UK.
 |
| Lister Park, Bradford and it's Mughal Water Gardens |
So this must be all good?
Well yes of course it is. Parks groups are a vital part of park teams today, and are, without a doubt, the driving force behind changes in parks nationwide. Just here in Bristol we have seen parks address anti-social behaviour through planting, gain village green status, become community assets handed over to communities to run. We even have an Edible Park that I am working on with Incredible Edible Bristol, leased to us for 5 years. There are equivalent places all across the UK, that are seeing people power move the parks movement forwards.
But what seemed slightly sad to me, and looking around the city here I see this in reality, is that the successful parks groups are in a very definite demographic and whilst this is not in itself an issue, I wonder how we make these groups more diverse and bring in our rich minority cultures to the conversation. After all our parks are for all, rich, poor, young and old and historically were there to ensure that there was green space in our cities for all to enjoy. With 70% of our population likely to live in urban and suburban areas by 2050, and in the knowledge that we need nature in our lives to be well both mentally and physically, we need to ensure that parks don't become seen as the home of the middle classes and that they remain truly accessible to all.
My question is how do we achieve this in a way that isn't patronising and top down? How do we engage communities with parks and gardens when they feel disengaged. And more importantly how do we ensure that those spaces are what is needed by all the communities in a city? Where it's great to see anti-social behaviour being dealt with by introducing large swathes of planting to discourage certain elements, how do we engage with the problems to ensure they have a place to go. By doing that are we just squeezing that anti-social behaviour into a park where there is no park group to deal with those issues?
For certain working in parks is not easy. Our Incredible Edible Bristol Edible Park is right in the middle of the city and for sure has been a space that has seen huge issues in it. When we took it over the park was hidden behind a huge swathe of shrubs that had never been pruned and it was impossible to see into the space. We spent the first day we were there collecting needles, tins that had been used to take crack, bottles, cans and rubbish whilst chopping back the undergrowth to make the space feel safer and more inclusive. It would have been easy to chase the addicts and the drinkers from the space, but rather than doing that and alienating people, we have worked around and with some really challenging people, all of whom we are filling the park with food for. We have taken specialist advice, learnt where to signpost people to, have emergency numbers and, I hope, we are completely non judgemental. There have been moments of real fear, but also of quite extraordinary joy as we have gained trust whilst starting to create a space which I hope will be one that is completely unique.
 |
| The edible park before.... |
 |
| The Edible Park with work begun.. |
 |
| Bedding scheme in Bristol |
I digress. What is so great about Britain in Bloom is the way it has increased civic pride and to some extent moved responsibilty for our parks and gardens into the hands of people. These shared spaces, although sadly missing in many places their parkies and park teams, are being pushed forwards in exciting ways by people, proving that in reality people can make real change when given the opportunity, which Bloom has definitely begun to make possible. What I personally would like to see is the RHS ensuring that the parks in our towns and cities more marginalised areas can also have local people working on them with the support of the RHS where needed and bringing in other local organisations to help where appropriate. Wouldn't it be great to see local schools, youth groups and minority groups working alongside what are left of parks teams, to not only make beautiful spaces but also to learn horticultural skills which could lead to employment or an exciting new hobby. If we are serious about reinvigorating horticulture and keeping our public parks and gardens exciting and inclusive spaces, isn't this the way to move forwards?
Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Why I've come over all Heirloom!
I hinted in my last post that I was concentrating on heirloom varieties this year and I thought I would write a short post on why.
I am allotmentless which is a bizarre and uncomfortable state of affairs but one I am having to learn to live with for now, but I do have a new garden. Obviously having a new garden is exciting but it is the typical garden of a rented house, with lots of lawn that has never been looked after, and some odd bits and pieces of plants that make little sense and have never been looked after, so all need a blooming good prune to stop them flowering 30ft in the air! They have all had a bit of a remedial prune but until I have seen them through a season, I don't want to do too harsh a prune although I am going to lose a couple of things because they are completely out of control. We have already found one border that we didn't realise was there, and there are a couple of other places where the lawn has obviously had borders begun to be dug out, but that are now just full of weeds. Those will be my next bit to tackle. But the odd, and yet interesting bit about the garden is it is on two levels, with the bottom level and the bottom lawn having a large, semi raised, south facing bed in it which will be perfect for veg. So at the moment the plan is to put veg in the lower part and ornamentals in the top. I am never quite sure where the line between veg and ornamentals is so there will, inevitably, be some cross over, but that, at the moment, is the basic, very simplistic, plan.
So I am going from full sized allotment plot to an area that is probably 4/5m sq so my usual habit of buying seeds I like the look of a flinging them in needs to be controlled. There is no point sowing trays and trays of seedlings that just won't get used, and although they could obviously be used for Incredible Edible Bristol beds, there also needs to be a line between that and what I do at home, so limiting myself is really necessary. Knowing that I have been gifted the American heirloom seeds that are #RonsToms and that I am taking part in Rob Smith's seed trials of heirloom varieties, it seems sensible to continue that theme of heirloom varieties in order to limit myself and stick with a plan that can also be a bit of an ongoing project in terms of looking at how they perform and documenting that.
What I am most interested in is how long varieties have been in production and what the seed merchants say are the redeeming features that make them worth keeping going, as well as how easy they are to grow and whether or not they taste good, or in any way different from more modern varieties. And I want to know what they look like because what I really want is a beautiful area that is also productive because I am determined this garden will be stunning.
But before I can do this I need to barrow in a ton of soil to the veg beds!! Back soon.....
I am allotmentless which is a bizarre and uncomfortable state of affairs but one I am having to learn to live with for now, but I do have a new garden. Obviously having a new garden is exciting but it is the typical garden of a rented house, with lots of lawn that has never been looked after, and some odd bits and pieces of plants that make little sense and have never been looked after, so all need a blooming good prune to stop them flowering 30ft in the air! They have all had a bit of a remedial prune but until I have seen them through a season, I don't want to do too harsh a prune although I am going to lose a couple of things because they are completely out of control. We have already found one border that we didn't realise was there, and there are a couple of other places where the lawn has obviously had borders begun to be dug out, but that are now just full of weeds. Those will be my next bit to tackle. But the odd, and yet interesting bit about the garden is it is on two levels, with the bottom level and the bottom lawn having a large, semi raised, south facing bed in it which will be perfect for veg. So at the moment the plan is to put veg in the lower part and ornamentals in the top. I am never quite sure where the line between veg and ornamentals is so there will, inevitably, be some cross over, but that, at the moment, is the basic, very simplistic, plan.
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| Some of last year's harvest. |
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| The Lower Terrace!! |
But before I can do this I need to barrow in a ton of soil to the veg beds!! Back soon.....
Sunday, 21 February 2016
Keeping the Black Dog at Bay with #RonsToms
I woke up this morning with a small sense of impending doom. A bit anxious and a bit fidgety. Wanting to get out of bed and yet really wanting to stay under the duvet and hide.
Completely overwhelmed but not sure by what.
I got out of bed and got back in again.
Eventually the need for tea was too much and I got up but ended up under a blanket on the sofa, just with tea in my hand.
I quite often have days like this, but usually have to ride rough shod over them in order to get to something but today there was nowhere to go. Nothing to hide behind.
So I did a load of work. I updated the events section of the Incredible Edible Bristol website, scheduled Facebook posts and Twitter updates, firmed up my diary for the week ahead. After around 3 hours I was still anxious, and had nothing left to do in terms of work, so I forced myself to look at what the problem was........
Sometimes when the black dog is around I really want to do something but I can't. Physically it is as if my body and brain work against me to persuade me that I must do a zillion other things rather than actually do the thing that will make me feel better, more in control.
So I took myself off to a local garden centre, thinking that a bit of plant therapy might help, but however hard I kept thinking about what I might need for the garden it was impossible to make a decision. I bought potatoes for one of the beds we are working on in the city centre and came home.
And then I remembered some seeds that I had. Last summer I was sent some American heirloom tomato seeds from Ron Finley in LA in a package along with a t-shirt. I had kept those seeds safe since then and through our move thinking that they would be grown on the allotment this year, probably in the greenhouse and then it occured to me that actually my issue for the day had mainly been that I was panicking about not having an allotment. Not the kind of earth shattering all consuming panic that can knock you off your feet, but that slow, niggling panic that really makes you have to work out the issue which will often hide behind other things and catch you out.
Of course I have a new garden and I have a greenhouse in it, but having had an allotment for the best part of 20 years I realise now that the plot sized space in my life is huge and gaping right now. Us allotmenteers have the seasons embedded within us and this is the time of year when usually I'd be barrowing large amounts of muck around the plot to keep warm, beginning things off in the greenhouse and making plans for the growing year ahead whilst drinking copious amounts of tea in my shed and the black dog, in it's usual cheeky way, has jumped on the fact that there is a gap in my usual schedule and jumped into it.
So I found those seeds, along with a few others and sowed them. Popped them into pots of soft, seived seed sowing compost, popped their labels in and watered them whilst whispering "grow you buggers, grow," as taught to me by Alan Titchmarsh whilst watching him plant a tree on one of his shows. I never plant or sow anything without that phrase.
And immediately I felt that black dog start to disappear. So I sowed some crimson flowered broad beans too and popped a mashua root into some compost too whilst I was outside and playing with soil. And then, in a way I have never done before, I popped my seed potatoes into egg boxes and put them on the kitchen windowsill to chit so that they are ready for the potato sacks I am going to grow them in. I sorted out my seeds and looked at what I can grow in the garden, and what I could grow in containers and had a long think about what and why I was going to grow if I don't get an allotment this year, which is very definitely possible. I haven't quite made a strategy but I have decided I am going to look at growing mainly heirloom varieties and there will be a blog about that at some point in the fairly near future.
And then I felt better and again it occured to me how fortunate I am to have gardening in my life. not just professionally, but as a human being who needs that connection with soil, with the earth and with nature. If there is one thing I am determined to do this year it is work with others who have yet to be able to access the therapy that growing plants, be they edible or ornamental, is. There will be more on that soon too, but in the meantime I'm glad I made myself have an honest conversation with myself today because I have sent that black dog packing and that makes today a good day!!
If anyone might like to know, the tomato seeds are all cherry varieties from a selection of US nurseries. They are T. Red Pear, T. Isis Candy and T. Black Cherry and if you want to follow how they grow I will be documenting here and also on Twitter with the hashtag #RonsToms which was coined by Alison Levey of The Blackberry Garden blog fame!!
Completely overwhelmed but not sure by what.
I got out of bed and got back in again.
Eventually the need for tea was too much and I got up but ended up under a blanket on the sofa, just with tea in my hand.
I quite often have days like this, but usually have to ride rough shod over them in order to get to something but today there was nowhere to go. Nothing to hide behind.
So I did a load of work. I updated the events section of the Incredible Edible Bristol website, scheduled Facebook posts and Twitter updates, firmed up my diary for the week ahead. After around 3 hours I was still anxious, and had nothing left to do in terms of work, so I forced myself to look at what the problem was........
Sometimes when the black dog is around I really want to do something but I can't. Physically it is as if my body and brain work against me to persuade me that I must do a zillion other things rather than actually do the thing that will make me feel better, more in control.
So I took myself off to a local garden centre, thinking that a bit of plant therapy might help, but however hard I kept thinking about what I might need for the garden it was impossible to make a decision. I bought potatoes for one of the beds we are working on in the city centre and came home.
And then I remembered some seeds that I had. Last summer I was sent some American heirloom tomato seeds from Ron Finley in LA in a package along with a t-shirt. I had kept those seeds safe since then and through our move thinking that they would be grown on the allotment this year, probably in the greenhouse and then it occured to me that actually my issue for the day had mainly been that I was panicking about not having an allotment. Not the kind of earth shattering all consuming panic that can knock you off your feet, but that slow, niggling panic that really makes you have to work out the issue which will often hide behind other things and catch you out.
Of course I have a new garden and I have a greenhouse in it, but having had an allotment for the best part of 20 years I realise now that the plot sized space in my life is huge and gaping right now. Us allotmenteers have the seasons embedded within us and this is the time of year when usually I'd be barrowing large amounts of muck around the plot to keep warm, beginning things off in the greenhouse and making plans for the growing year ahead whilst drinking copious amounts of tea in my shed and the black dog, in it's usual cheeky way, has jumped on the fact that there is a gap in my usual schedule and jumped into it.
So I found those seeds, along with a few others and sowed them. Popped them into pots of soft, seived seed sowing compost, popped their labels in and watered them whilst whispering "grow you buggers, grow," as taught to me by Alan Titchmarsh whilst watching him plant a tree on one of his shows. I never plant or sow anything without that phrase.
And immediately I felt that black dog start to disappear. So I sowed some crimson flowered broad beans too and popped a mashua root into some compost too whilst I was outside and playing with soil. And then, in a way I have never done before, I popped my seed potatoes into egg boxes and put them on the kitchen windowsill to chit so that they are ready for the potato sacks I am going to grow them in. I sorted out my seeds and looked at what I can grow in the garden, and what I could grow in containers and had a long think about what and why I was going to grow if I don't get an allotment this year, which is very definitely possible. I haven't quite made a strategy but I have decided I am going to look at growing mainly heirloom varieties and there will be a blog about that at some point in the fairly near future.
And then I felt better and again it occured to me how fortunate I am to have gardening in my life. not just professionally, but as a human being who needs that connection with soil, with the earth and with nature. If there is one thing I am determined to do this year it is work with others who have yet to be able to access the therapy that growing plants, be they edible or ornamental, is. There will be more on that soon too, but in the meantime I'm glad I made myself have an honest conversation with myself today because I have sent that black dog packing and that makes today a good day!!
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