Through the years I’ve always been interested in
gardening and what little time I had I spent pottering about in my backyard. With
a full-time job and three children there wasn’t very much time to devote to my
garden. It was filled with flowers and culinary herbs and looked beautiful.
After my divorce in 1999 I lived in an apartment until 2003 but I missed the
feel of the earth in my hands and walking barefoot in the dirt. I sold my apartment
and moved to a tiny house with a postage stamp garden. Instead of designing the
garden myself I hired John Brookes to do the designing for me. I was not disappointed!
Before
Then, in May of 2009 I was laid off due to the crisis
and the first thing I did was turn my beautiful garden into a veggie garden
because I saw it as a way to save money and eat organic vegetables because I
knew that at my age I would probably not find a steady job. I found a few
temporary jobs but after they were over I remained jobless.
After
In June 2014 I had
to sell my house because I could not afford it living on benefits and moved in
with my boyfriend who is now my husband. His house was even smaller than mine
so I had to get rid of a lot of stuff. It’s amazing how much stuff one
accumulates over the years! His backyard (or should I say ours?) is his domain
so I decided to rent an allotment. I found one in a small town near us and was
put on a waiting list. Much to my surprise in December of that year I was told
I could rent a ‘starters plot’ that was about 50 m2 and I was
delighted because otherwise I would have to wait a long time before a lager
plot became available.
On the internet I read everything there was to find
about gardening and was fascinated by the concept of permaculture. It seemed
like the way to go for me so I applied the principles of permaculture to my
small plot as best as I could. It was a process of trial and error and I still
have a lot to learn. Most of the gardeners there garden the ‘normal’ way and a
lot of them were inquisitive about the strange things I was doing and of course
I was willing to explain it to them. The garden allotment complex has a country
feel to it and the people are very nice and helpful. I really enjoy gardening
there.
50 m2
In the beginning of December 2015 I was told there
would be a garden available by a member so I took a look and fell in love with
it, mainly because it had a different shape, it was more or less triangular. I wrote
a letter to the garden commission and told them that I would love to have that
garden and lo and behold I got it! I spent most of the December month moving my things
from the old garden to the new one and making sure the old garden was weed
free.
150 m2
Garden plan
I also spent time on the new plot laying out the plan and doing some weeding. The weather has been surprisingly mild but often rainy and windy. Whenever the weather is good I'm off to my garden. I discovered that the main circle has not been placed according to the plan, a bit too much to the bottom. I'm fine with that and will have to revise my plan.
