Standing Up

This post has been a long time coming and won't be that garden focussed but for those of you who ask why I always feel the need to stand up to the bullies here goes...........
Gardens, plants and growing have been my life for as long as I can remember. A yearning to be outside, growing beautiful plants and creating wonderful spaces is my reason for being and I consider myself the most fortunate person alive to be in the position I am, not just doing this myself, but also supporting other people to join in, have a go and celebrate their success. It gives me untold joy to support people and organisations to improve their environments with gardens, be they productive or ornamental, large or small. And the way these spaces change communities, getting them up and active, engaged and excited, is the most humbling and amazing thing. I am, to use a social media phrase, blessed.
But throughout this career have been some very dark periods, all of which have been created in the first instance, by bullies.
Workplace bullying is difficult. It is often wrapped up in conversations along the line of conflicting personalities and comments around ability and the bully knows exactly what they are doing, and how careful the line must be that they tread whilst constantly dripping negativity about the person into the ears of everyone around them. For months I dreaded opening my emails, and regularly received emails telling me I was wrong and he was right. On one occasion these led to a a huge dispute between directors who at that point were seemingly taking sides, and a huge argument in my office, with me there, about how the issue was being dealt with. I dreaded going to work, despite being totally in love with the beautiful walled garden nursery I was managing, because here was someone I had to liase with daily who was trying to get rid of me. To drive me out.
Fortunately at the same time I joined Twitter and looked for other gardeners, and the relief was palpable when I was able to join in conversations, support others to garden and slowly, very slowly, although work was beyond distressing, I began to believe in myself a bit more. I started to run workshops, to have a horticultural life away from the workplace and things felt like they might be ok.
But as with everything, there are highs and lows and a year before I left this workplace I had a serious breakdown. It followed an event where the bully had openly been slating me for being "lazy and useless" when a good pal was in the room, and unbeknownst to me, she made a formal complaint and it was taken to HR, who were so concerned they suggested that the gross misconduct line had been crossed and he should leave. But that didn't happen and  instead he upped the pressure, finding my Twitter account and recounting it to the owners of the business. At this point they knew nothing of the workshops and courses because I had done them in my own time, either at weekends or taking annual leave, but they insisted they stop if I wanted to continue to work there. Very quickly Twitter went from being my safe space to one where I could say very little, despite having closed my account down so tightly that for several months I didn't even allow new followers.
And then I received a call. A call that I thought would change my life. A call to be interviewed for a job where the owner of a nursery had asked to meet me. Someone who at that time I admired was headhunting me! So off I went to the interview, and got the job. And jumped straight from the bullying pan into the bullying fire. Constantly being told you know nothing, being made to feel like you have no voice, that you are useless, that you aren't interested in plants, or gardens, that you are slow, that anyone could do better, that you aren't trusted to water the plants..............
But at this point I knew what was happening. I had seen the bully for what they were. Just that. A bully. I had tried to have conversations, to work harder, to prove myself but after the first few weeks I knew I needed to be brave and leave. The final decision came when I was told that there were concerns about my "severe" depression, which was frankly not correct but more worryingly I knew the information had yet again been gleaned through social media and at that point I took control. They let me go stating non transferrable skills which made me hoot as the skill that I didn't have was driving.  It had been assumed I would drive the owner around in the evenings to talks and events, which had never been mentioned at the interview and which I would never have agreed to. I left with my head held high and at that moment promised myself that I would never be afraid of a bully again.
Why are you telling us this tale now I hear you asking.
What is your point Sara?

Well without going into the minutae, bullying happens on many scales and I have promised to stand up, with a lot of other people, to a particular bully in the city. And I am scared. I want to run away. I am close to tears and I feel alone. My voice feels broken, silenced in fear. I woke up this morning and for the first time in 5 years didn't have an immediate tweet, was afraid to speak my truth.
Name drop alert here, but last year I sat in a garden with Dave Myers and spoke openly about all this. Sadly it didn't make the cut, but he and the entire team were moved beyond words by the strength it sometimes takes to stand up and ignore the negative voices. Horrified that an industry that seems to be all about the environment, making beautiful spaces and being kind to our planet, can be so cruel and harsh. After leaving the last job it appeared it was a well known fact that the person was like this and it soon transpired there was a whole line of people before me that had been through the same. But no one will speak, even years after, in the belief that they signed a confidentiality clause in their contract and they would be honed down on by solicitors and the law. I never signed that clause, but equally I am never going to name names. That would make me the bully and that is something I am super conscious of, but it never fails to amaze me how years later the effects can still be seen in people. It never leaves you. The fear is what remains.
Why am I telling you this now? Because it is my truth and it explains a lot about how important i feel compassion and kindness is. Because I feel like bullies can create huge and unpleasant schisms and that isn't fair on all the people it affects. Because bullying leads to poor mental and physical health that over the years it becomes harder and harder to bounce back from. Because I hate to think that anyone might have been so abjectly affected by it that at times they may too have felt, or feel like their voice is squashed and they are silenced.
Today its Valentines Day and as it draws to an end I have just seen a post from a friend on Facebook asking whether Valentines could be repurposed into a day where we promise to treat people with care and respect in the year to come. So here I am committing to do just that. To lead with kindness from my core in everything I do, because that is the only way we are going to find a kinder world.
And finally, if this resonates with you don't be afraid to get in touch, but also to look at the link below. You still have your voice however much you feel like you can't use it, and someone will help you to speak your truth............xx

The City Is My Garden.....

Bloom Fringe is an amazing event that I visited in the first weekend in June. it is the fringe event to Dublin's Bloom Festival, Ireland's premier garden show, and I was invited by the awesome ladies who run the event to spend three days in Dublin, talking visiting awesome community gardens, and generally just to get involved in the event.
On my first day in Dublin, somewhat tired from the journey, I found this piece of street art and it made me really think.........

What does that mean?
Well for me in particular the city is my garden. Supporting gardens and gardening is my thing and is what I do as a volunteer, giving my horticultural knowledge to folk who can use it to improve those lost and unloved spaces that most areas of cities have. Whilst what I do is, of course around creating those community spaces around food and growing, it is also more than that. For me it's a horticultural call to arms. A demand, if that is not too bold a word, for horticulture to be at the centre of the way we care for our cities. A request for good horticultural practices from all the stakeholders and contractors who work within the city. Why on earth shouldn't good planting, tree maintenance and planting, care for our parks and wilder spaces, be at the centre of what we see as a healthy city.
Now I am more than aware that most people think I am somewhat crazy in my thinking but let me explain.
81% of the UK population live in urban areas and that is an ever rising figure. Our cities are becoming full to the brim and it's a frightening scenario, as mental health issues rise and the NHS and others struggle to deal with the rising numbers of people needing support. We are constantly told that we need to get people into nature, but what on earth does that means? As discussed in a previous post, we can hardly bus people out to the countryside every weekend for their dose of nature, so what do we do?
Surely it's obvious? Surely we bring nature into the city? Surely we open the door and allow not just nature, but good horticultural practices into the city and allow people to feel that they have a voice in hat their city looks like?
But what do you mean Sara? Well........
So here in Bristol there are a few things that really get my goat. Over the years pollinator projects have meant that there are a lot of areas planted for pollinators, using a seed mix that was especially formulated for that. Now that project is over, sadly the beds are very poorly, if at all managed, and we see huge swathes of Welsh and Californian poppies that have taken over from the other species sown, peppered with willow herb and other weeds that have come in. They look sad and tatty. Like nobody owns them my grandmother would have said.
We also have some junctions that have been planted as herbaceous borders,. Now this is a wonderful idea and I salute it wholeheartedly, but these borders were planted without any thought for how they might be managed in uncertain times, and now we are in a city that needs to make 101 million pounds worth of savings this year, you can probably imagine the state of these spaces. They are trimmed once a year and wood chip is used as a mulch, which by this point in the year is failing and weeds are appearing through them. Whoever designed the spaces also didn't allow for failures or for some plants being more vivacious shall we say. Phlomis fruiticosa waves in enormous drifts across the city whilst other plants struggle. In some places Peonies have been used and their beautiful blooms fall all over the mulch as they are missing any form of staking and other plants surrounding them have died away.
Bindweed is also a massive issue in all these spaces as they are trimmed yearly, or cut with a brush cutter, that cuts back the bindweed and just makes it's roots stronger so that it very quickly takes over and strangles the rest of the plants in the space.

Wolfe Tone Square in Dublin

Now I realise here I am painting a picture of doom and gloom but of course there is another way. We all know that in days gone by councils parks departments were the way so many now esteemed horticulturalists began in the industry. Today we see, in most towns and cities, the parks teams hugely diminished, if they have survived at all, and hence this entry point is closed, or severely cut. Here in Bristol parks are set to become "budget neutral" and so the parks department has to be 100% self sustaining and so our incredible council nurseries, which we are lucky to still have, have to concentrate on growing plants for other areas in order to make themselves financially viable.
But surely we can change this? With Incredible Edible Bristol we have made gardens in the most unlikely of spaces, concentrating on growing food for sure, but also, and sometimes more importantly, focusing on the change a beautiful garden makes to those most unlikely spaces.
Whilst I was at Bloom Fringe, those fierce organisers of the event took two spaces and changed them with plants, effectively making gardens, all be they temporary spaces, in a car park and in a square in Dublin city centre.
Wolfe Tone Square is, I think, Dublin's equivalent of our Bearpit here in Bristol. A lost, unloved and underused space populated by a community that is in trauma. A space used for drinking, for anti social behaviour and a space avoided by many through fear. The aim of our Bearpit garden, is to support the creation of a more safe and inclusive space, with the addition of food being more of a side line although the vast majority of the plants used are edibles. By turning the space in Wolf Tone Square into a temporary garden, the atmosphere changed dramatically. children played in the mud kitchen, climbed on the copper cow and played chess with a chess master who was one of the spaces usual community. People stood in the space chatting, talking about plants, about gardens and about life. The seating available in the square is set in place and in a line so placing chairs around the space, making it beautiful with plants and grass, albeit fake, made people stop, slow down, take a seat and begin a conversation.
Now for me this is the power of good outdoor design. We cannot change the way our towns and cities have been designed. We certainly cannot change these lost or poorly used spaces but what we can do is put nature and good horticulture into our policies of managing these spaces, turning them from lost and unloved to beautiful, productive and healthy spaces. Investment now into this along with requests to other stakeholders who manage land in our towns and cities, and a change in how we design spaces into the future, will ensure healthier city as we head into the future, and can address not just physical and mental health of people, but also the health of the city itself, using SuDs, green roof and wall technologies, and bringing nature into the city for the health of the city.
So how do we do this?
Well in my experience, we just do it. Organise your community around that space and get on and make that change. Often it can be done for the price of a few seeds and the use of some old furniture that otherwise might end up in landfill. Clear those spaces, add some seats, spread some seeds and see what happens. Bur along with that, lobby your local councillors and ask them to begin to see the areas they support as a garden. Speak to your children schools and clubs. Find those people in your community who can help with gardening, carpentry, crafting skills.
And if you need proof that this works to make more coherent communities, use the examples across the country that are really supporting nature within cities to support the health and well being of both people and place.

Bristol's Bearpit Garden

Knowledge sharing the Incredible way!!

I consider myself immensely lucky. Incredible Edible Bristol has given me so many opportunities and whilst it may not give me financial gain, it gives me so much more, including a real sense of both self worth and confidence in what I do. Now that I am also vice chair of Incredible Edible, the national movement, I occasionally get to visit other groups too witch is fab, as essentially I'm nosy and hate to miss anything!

 

Part of our Incredible Edible model is to share knowledge and today I went to sunny Wales to do just that. Earlier in the year I helped Incredible Edible Usk to choose some plants for their amazing garden and to plant those plants out in a design that put plants together well and ensured right plant, right place. Since then they have filled raised beds with veg, planted chillies, tomatoes, cucumbers and aubergines in their greenhouse and filled several areas with beautiful pollinator friendly seed mixes. The garden speaks of edibles for all, annoyingly including rabbits for a while which have now been shut out, and includes planting that increases biodiversity as much as edibles to share. It's an extraordinary space I feel honoured to have had a tiny hand in.

 

Today I popped back over the Severn Bridge to do some work with the group on pruning and maintaining the garden. It's amazing how far it's come in a few short months, the plants having really filled out, and how it was buzzing with life. We wandered around the beds, discussing when to prune certain grasses depending on when they flower, what seed heads are good to leave over winter in the border for insects to live in during the cold months, how to prune a run away rose and so much more. We wondered at the size of the once tiny Rodgersias, discussed ground cover for their permaculture garden, and discussed whether to leave the self seeded buddlieas in or remove and replace with cultivated varieties. For info we removed them!

We removed blight ridden tomatoes from the greenhouse and marvelled at the salad crops being grown in the raised bed section.

And at no point did I feel I was teaching. What we were doing was sharing knowledge, helping each other to succeed and strengthening Incredible Edible networks. We talked about bats, countryside management, food growing, Welsh apple varieties and invertebrates. We drank tea and nibbled biscuits. 

And when we finished the garden looked incredible, and the group are confident in the knowledge that they know what they're doing month by month to look after the plants.

That's a day worth far more than money could buy. 

 

A Visit to Charles Dowding

A couple of weekends ago we toodled off to deepest Somerset to visit the garden of no dig guru and all round good guy, Charles Dowding. Charles is well known for his no dig gardening techniques, using mulches of different types of compost, including a soil conditioner made from local green waste and home made compost amongst others, as well as cardboard and plastic sheeting. These mulches keep weeds at bay by stopping light, and keep the soil fed with healthy organic matter.

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No dig is a method of gardening that I am more and more determined to make a success of. Of course it doesn't mean you'll never see another weed, but it does seem to mean that perennial weeds such as dandelions and bindweed are weakened, and makes it simple for annual weeds to be hoed out.

 

I went to see Charles' garden in order to find out more about no dig and to see a garden I've always wanted a nose around. However, within seconds of arriving what was most amazing about the garden was that it is full of the most amazingly beautiful and healthy crops. It is a garden worth visiting for its beauty and design alone. It's proof that productive and beautiful are absolutely mutually possible and that food growing doesn't have to be untidy or poorly designed.

 

The health of the plants is, of course, down to the no dig system. Adding layer upon layer of organic matter to the land feeds the soil with beneficial bacteria and fungi and encourages biodiversity in soil flora and fauna. The soil is full of worms, the air is alive with bees, hover flies, butterflies and wasps, and the garden speaks of the importance of healthy soil as the backbone of any healthy garden.At the point we visited in early September, the garden was producing beans, salad leaves, brassicas, carrots, huge celeriacs, beetroots and much more. The fruit trees, fairly new as the garden is only 3 years old, were dripping with fruit, and the greenhouse and polytunnel were full of tomatoes, aubergines and peppers, growing with companion plantings of marigolds to keep the pests away. There were beds with perennial vegetables, full of asparagus, Daubenton's Kale, Oca, Mashua and more. And dotted around the garden and in the front garden were rich flowering plants, bringing pollinators into the garden to really encourage biodiversity.

Charles' partner Steph, in between ensuring cakes, teas, books and veg were available, kept reassuring me that te beauty of this garden, it's health and it's productivity is down to the fact that Charles works from dawn to dusk in the garden, and I left with those word singing in my ears. But it also made me realise that with hard work and the right support all of our growing spaces could be this productive, this beautiful and, in my opinion most importantly, this wonderful for the health of both people and planet. Mr Dowding, I salute you!!

It's worth pointing out that Charles has written several books, all of which are well worth reading and which are available at all good bookshops, or from his website, www.charlesdowding.co.uk.

Dahlia Love

I've always loved bright colours and larger than life blooms. I remember visiting garden centres as a 70's child and sneaking over to look at the dahlias and gladioli whilst the more adult members of my family were oohing and aaring over subtly toned roses and small flowered shrubs, and questioning whether they'd fit in with the pale border, or the pink bed. 

Whilst all this was happening our side of the garden fence, next door I saw the brightest blooms, grown for the house, and asked question after question of our wonderful neighbour about what his plants were called and why he grew them. Jim called them his jewels and that's just what they were, bright, cheery and colourful. Dahlias, glads, marigolds, sunflowers, anemones, chrysanthemums and more. 

"What would you like Sara?" was always asked but there were tuts and sighs when I pointed out bright dahlias, anemones and glads. Even when I asked for Rosa Ferdinand Pichard, that amazing, I think, white and Crimson striped rose, I was told it was gaudy and to look at something else. 

 

And then of course I found Great Dixter!! For a while Christopher Lloyd was on Gardeners World, in those halcyon Titchmarsh days, and I remember a change. An interest in how those borders at Great Dixter, whilst being a riot of supposedly clashing colours, just worked. Books were purchased and plant lists reviewed at my parents, but still the glads and dahlias never appeared.

But by then of course I had my own little plot and I soon learnt that not only are these plants magnificent, but they are reasonably easy once you've fought the snails at the beginning of the season, and they give a great display until the first heavy frosts, both inside and out, as they cut like a dream. What's not to love? 

 

So this year on the new allotment, half of which is being given over to flowers, the dahlias and glads have begun to be grown again, in their own beds where the mix of the different forms and colours startles the eye and excites the soul. Next year there will be more for certain, mixed I hope with bright perennials such as Heleniums, Echinacea and Rudbeckia. 

And in pride of place will be my new Rosa Ferdinand Pichard. Let the gaudy begin!