I've just been down to the end of the end of the garden to take some photos of its current state, and in a moment of clarity thought: "How the hell am I going to do this? I must be mad..."
But I seem to say that to myself quite a lot and plough on ahead regardless, and generally I get there in the end. So I am doing this in a "Build it and they will come" way. Let's see how the next year unfolds.
But I seem to say that to myself quite a lot and plough on ahead regardless, and generally I get there in the end. So I am doing this in a "Build it and they will come" way. Let's see how the next year unfolds.The blog will document this year-long August to August project. I expect the blog to grow and change shape much as this patch of garden does. I want to see how I change as a result of doing this too. It is something I have been thinking about for several months but being a full-time student and a full-time lone parent means I can only tackle so much at one time. Now is the right time to begin. My first aim is to have the plot cleared before I go back to university at the end of September.
By next August I hope to be posting with pictures and details of my bumper crops of onions, beans, courgettes, raspberries and strawberries, and whatever else I decide to grow. But first there is alot of hard work to do just to clear a space to walk in, let alone dig over, mulch, compost, structure or plant stuff in! A bit of background: This is not really my garden at all. I live with my two-year-old son, Sam in my Dad's house, so it is his garden. More correctly even that that, the garden was my Mum's territory. She had plans for the end of the garden- in her head. She knew what she wanted to do with it. But she died three years ago of lung cancer, and was really too poorly for some time before that to take on and finish any major projects, although possibly if she were here now, she would say different.I want Sam to know where fruit and vegetables come from; to get his hands in the soil; to appreciate his food more fully and see what is possible when you put your mind to it.
I want to learn about growing for myself, to be more self-sufficient, to feel more connected spiritually and physically with the earth. And I want to do this as a way of remembering my Mum too.
That is a lot of 'wants'.
ooh, I'm looking forward to reading this blog :-)
ReplyDeleteLucy, it really does not look that bad...I will see if we can do a weekend, we have a place to stay in brighton and i can really lend a hand...it has sooooooo much potential! Am jealous you have such a lovely space....kat
ReplyDeleteJust make sure, with all that to clear, that you've got either a good number of compost 'dalek' bins in situ first, or you clear an area and set up an open compost heap (easy enough to do, just get some palettes and tie them together to make the bin). You're going to produce a lot of stuff in the clearing that can be composted, bearing in mind twiggy stuff takes up to three years, so I'd suggest setting aside one bin as 'long-term' sited somewhere discreet and then leave it to stew!
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to reading this - I started my blog with the intention of doing something similar but being crap - I never actually did - Hope you enjoy the brambles and if you fancy chickens they are excellent helpers at clearing the ground (and manuring it too)
ReplyDeleteInfact if you put a few chooks in a movable run - they could probably clear the whole lot for you over the winter and all you'd have to do is dig it over in Spring
this looks amazing! looking forward to the progress!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for all your kind words and advice. Unfortunately I can't do chooks at the moment but am going to bookmark that fabulous idea for the future, when I have my own place ;-)I am trying to clear enough space to get another dalek bin and start an open heap as well...watch this space!
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