There’s a very good article in one of todays online papers about Allotments.
And it got me thinking……………………………………………………
24 years ago, we had an allotment, in Sydenham, SE London. Several hundred small plots that demonstrated self sufficiency at it’s best. From water harvesting, insulation (those sheds can be cold in January) and lots of innovative thinking with regards to space and energy……
There was a bus driver who lived on his plot for 6 months of the year, converted his shed into a bedroom with kitchenette. Grew his own food and collected water. He worked nights so didn’t need electricity. A small group of Jamaicans had a shed shanty town, huddled along one row of plots, with makeshift roofs adjoining to give cover from the rain in a shared space where home grown remedies and refreshments were sampled with laughter for hours.
What I learned about the benefits of black mint tea and growing giant parsnips will stay with me for life!
The graphic designer on the plot next to my own ‘wildlife garden’ had the neatest of neatest rows of veg, equal spacing, to precision, whereas I had a shack, with a porch and a seat and I’d just sit and do f*ck all for the day………………
Steve, the licenced air rifleman (Green Parrots, they’re a bugger they are) had two plots. One for food and one for growing thatch for his pallet board cabin that looked like a ranch house where he would sit on a small rocking chair on the porch, cleaning his barrel, waiting for them to swoop…….
Eventually, after not bringing anything home after the 2nd harvest the Mrs got suspicious and came down one Sunday morning…. And that was the start of learning to grow our own, generate our own and decided on a life in the country with enough space for three generations, a few fruit tress and a small kitchen garden where we could grow our own.
It led to a low impact lifestyle, it led to saving money and due to multi-generational living, it led to increased safety and security. Both personal and in supplies that we need. We’ve prepped for over 20 yrs and having adopted this lifestyle, we sailed through lockdown and the disruptions that most storms or floods bring. We’ve adapted to live with nature instead of fighting against it (other than the bloody great big wall that the EA built in our front garden to stop the river bank from collapsing)
In the workshop at the bottom of the garden, the office is powered through a UPS system, and I look out onto the wood chopping area and kindling store, through to the new Onions that are just starting to show. They are in neat rows. The graphic designers influence shows, as does Steve’s passion for protecting his crops and growing materials.
We grow ‘sticks’ that the Mrs weaves or paints and gives as presents. I also noticed a few strawberries last week. In November! You see the world differently when you have an allotment and you learn to appreciate ‘stuff’ in ways you never imaged when living in a throw away culture.
Anyway, here’s the article that triggered me today….