When I first got my hands on my allotment plot back in 2019, I had visions of creating a beautiful wildlife-friendly W paradise. It would be filled with dainty, beeloving flowers that danced in the summer breeze, and bursting with delicious vegetables and fruit, all growing strong and happy. I would skip through the garden wearing a long, floating dress and gather up crops in my handmade wicker basket, humming a Disney song on my way home.
Of course, just a few short months into cultivating my plot and the reality of growing my own vegetables on an allotment 20 minutes from my home became clear. Slugs ravaged their way through my carrots, broccoli and cosmos plants, birds swooped in to attack my dahlias and strawberries while squirrels began digging up my tulip bulbs and serving them to their friends for lunch.
I had no choice but to begin the tedious job of protecting everything. Up went the nets and cloches; out came the eggshells and beer traps and all of a sudden my dreams of a fairy-tale garden seemed just that... a dream.
The allotment began to resemble one big advertisement for mass-produced supplies as I desperately tried to keep everything alive! gardening And forget my dreams of beautiful, raised beds bursting with one of everything. It turned out that some plants didn't like others, some needed complicated structures to keep them upright and rows of uniform crops were far more practical for weed control and harvesting.
My allotment garden was becoming more and more productive, but I couldn't help but feel the prettiness had all but disappeared. It felt regimented and constructed instead of free and natural, the look I had been going for.
I blamed the bugs, I blamed the plants and I blamed the weather. I couldn't seem to get the balance right between practicality and natural beauty.
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Esta historia es de la edición August 2023 de Kitchen Garden.
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A FOOD FOR ALL SEASONS
Another Christmas has passed in a whirl of twinkling lights, naff jumpers and Brussels sprouts. No doubt we smug kitchen gardeners were patting ourselves on the back after another year of home-grown delights on the dinner table. Frost-sweetened parsnips dripping with butter, tender carrots and potatoes grown and roasted by our good selves. Not to mention the swede, turnips, cabbages and other winter treats. If you're reading this while Christmas memories are fresh, you might feel your waistline expanding just thinking about it. For some, it might even be too soon to talk about food full stop!
DIGGING THE DIRT THINGS THAT GO CLUNK IN THE LIGHT
John Holloway finds the mechanical and electrical tools on his allotment site somewhat 'challenging', shall we say. But has he found the perfect solution?
THE BIG (OR LITTLE) PARSNIP GROW-ALONG
Back in December we included a free packet of parsnip seeds with every issue and invited readers to join us in growing the longest root. Here are some top tips to get you started
DIGGING FOR DEVON!
Rhiannon Alcock thought gardening was definitely not for her. So who could have foreseen that one day she would go on to found a thriving community project growing food for food banks?
WINTER WONDERFUL
This month Anna Cairns Pettigrew has prepped a range of delicious and nutritious dishes for us all to try, with mustards, Savoy cabbage and 'Cavolo Nero' kale on the menu
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR COMPOST
Dr Anton Rosenfeld from Garden Organic shares some great ideas for ways to use your composted waste effectively
A wildlife pond is born
Jane Kelly finally got round to making her own pond in the hope that it would attract a variety of wildlife. And it did!
UNDER COVER
HARVEST WINTER SALADS - Winter salads, whether they have been growing outside, on a windowsill or under cover in the garden, will be starting to grow faster as the day length increases. Regular picking of the outer leaves helps to keep the plants healthy and producing for much longer.
HERB OF THE MONTH: SAGE ADVICE
Sage has been an important culinary and medicinal herb for centuries but it also comes in a range of leaf colours that makes it a real treat for the eyes (and nose) in borders and pots
CREATING A POTAGER GARDEN
Creating vegetable beds in patterns with dividing pathways can be an attractive and practical way to grow. Emma Rawlings offers some tips on making a potager
