Anyone can grow their own food. Remember that plants have evolved to grow. All you have to do is work out what your crops need to succeed and try to deliver as near perfect conditions as possible. That’s a huge part of the fun; reading books, chatting to others, watching theweather, building a relationship with your local environment - the soil, climate and seasonal changes.You don’t even need a garden! Salads can be happily raised in pots on a window-sill, sprouted seeds of mung bean, sunflower, radish and lentils on damp paper in a dish. Containers on a patio or courtyard will raise handsome crops of practically anything you’d think could only be grown in garden soil - imagine runner beans climbing up a sunny wall, lolling foliage revealing tempting glimpses of delicious courgette, not to mention tomatoes, chilli’s and (if you’re really brave) aubergines.Then there’s GardenShare, which is when folk who can’t work their plot let others have a go. The produce is shared. Or Community Gardens, which might be an orchard, formal green space or Millennium Green. These projects are always desperate for willing volunteers to step forward and make their mark. Gardening is not always about one person battling against the elements, fighting pests and diseases, toiling a lonesome furrow under a big sky. As often as not, it’s about neighbourliness, friendship, working together; community.I’m always encouraging people to dig up their lawns and tend fruit and veg there instead. A frightening amount of perfectly good growing land, tied up under a green baize of close cropped lawn, is crying out to be reclaimed and managed productively. Why not? You’d save on your grocery bill, help the environment (think food miles, packaging and processing) plus benefit personal health and well-being.
COPYRIGHT; JOE HASHMAN / DIRTY NAILS APRIL 2010 www.dirtynails.co.uk
