Our patch of earth: Ethical overload

How it began...

So, we’d spent time walking past our local allotments, getting more and more interested in the mysterious things that other people were growing and the ingenious uses that people had found for stuff that non-allotmenteers would probably term ‘junk’.

In March 2007, we spoke to our council, and discovered that our local allotments aren’t council owned - it turns out they’re held in trust. So, we decided to find the secretary. We spoke to Mike and Louise who were really welcoming and enthusiastic, then eventually tracked down Alan the secretary and, a few weeks later, we chose a plot with a little blue shed, a water butt, a small bench, and a patch of oregano.

We dug. It was April, and for those of you who remember April 07, it was hot, hot, hot. The ground was like rock. Adam was having to jump onto the fork to get it into the soil. But we persevered – this was our new veggie patch! We had plans for a herb garden over there, and some rows of beans over here, a compost heap at the back and flowers planted down the edges… until, one week in, a little old Italian lady turned up and claimed the plot was hers. Wah! Much confusion ensued, until we decided we’d rather not have the hassle and uncertainty, and much less be known as the new guys who kicked a little old lady off her plot. Gracious, no.

So we found a new spot. South facing, with rhubarb, gooseberry bushes (I didn’t know they were spiky!), a damson tree (which we thought were plums to start with – till mum made Damson gin and we recognised the fruit) and the Biggest Strawberry Patch In The World.

Twas overgrown, tis true, but much better than plot number 1. Hurrah for little old Italian ladies!

And two sheds! His and Hers, obviously, mainly because mine isn’t quite tall enough for Adam to stand upright in. So, mine has the tea and coffee making facilities, small gas stove, radio, seed packets on nails and an assortment of gardening gloves, while Adam’s has all the manly things – tools, wooden crates, useful bits of wood, tangled netting and carefully wound up bits of wire.

So the digging had to begin, again. After assessing the plot, with some useful hints and random-plant-identifying by Mike, we headed home to get forks and other digging equipment. Ten minutes later we returned to our overgrown plot to hear a strange buzzing noise, and find Mike strimming all the thigh-high weeds with his petrol strimmer! Thanks Mike! A good start to our compost heap… (Add 'build compost heap' to the To Do list.)

And then, half an hour later, as we’re just beginning to curse the sun for being too hot and the earth for being too hard, around the corner of our sheds comes our saviours Mike, Louise and their mate Ali, on white stallions, (no, not really) all brandishing forks and ready to help us dig, till we’d dug the same amount we’d done on plot no.1. Bless ‘em.

And then it was all go! Nine months later, 2008 seems promising. We've read many, many more books, got more ideas and got much more ambitious. And we've actually grown stuff which tasted gooooood. It could still all go horribly wrong, but even if it does I can guarantee we'll still get some tasty fruit and veg from between the weeds, all for a few pence, and a bit of blood, sweat and tears... (well, hopefully not the blood or the tears... just good ol' elbow grease.)

And a bit of help from our friends and family. Any time, chaps - you're very welcome! We'll get the kettle on...

Sounds fun, eh?

Tuesday, 12 August 2008

Ethical overload

Not much to report from last weekend I'm afraid - well, not when it comes to the allotment anyway. I spent the weekend at my friend Jo's house in Stoke on Trent. She and hubby Martin are expecting their first child in November, and it was great to see how she's 'blooming', help her choose some baby clothes, and see how her own veggie patch in their garden is coming along.

On another note, I've just read a book which has given me food for thought - A Life Stripped Bare: My Year Trying To Live Ethically by Leo Hickman. As a journalist/writer for The Guardian Leo undertook the challenge to try to live more ethically, everything from the food he and his family ate to the clothes they wore and the bank he held his accounts with.

But the steps and struggles he went through did made it seem more, well, do-able, I suppose. At least to make a start and change those things straight away which aren't such a massive step. Also, I was quite shocked that a lot of this 'ethical' stuff I just hadn't really thought about before.

Anyway, it's got me thinking... I tried to buy an apple at the supermarket the other day and there was not one - not one! - from anywhere in the UK. 'Hmm,' I thought, 'maybe it's not quite UK apple season... Aha! A neighbour had fresh plums on their tree at the weekend, I'll try that.' But the only plums there were from Israel. So... umm... strawberries! 'British strawberries' as the label proudly stated... but then they were £1.99 for sixteen strawberries (yes, I did count them) and even for a surge of ethical-doing-good-ness, that's a bit steep.

Organic, Fair Trade, air miles, local, European certified this and something else recommended that. It's a minefield out there. Is Fair Trade stuff flown from Kenya more ethical than organic stuff shipped in from Spain? Who knows???

I felt I had to share this with you guys. My gut feeling tells me that you fellow allotmenteers may have some stories to share or hints and tips...

I admit to feeling slightly smug, as I calculated our household annual Carbon Footprint online, and we came in at 2 tonnes under the UK average! But that's still 2 tonnes OVER the world average. Hmm. I get the train to work, Adam rides his bike, we recycle everything our council will accept, plus we have a compost heap and the all-important allotment, but I'm sure there's more, much more, we can do.

So I'm starting with household cleaners and detergents.

I ordered some soap nuts online today. I'll let you know if they're any good...

...and I'm sure that lemon balm in the garden is good for something.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Sarah - I know exactly what you mean - I dither and worry over this every time I go to the supermarket. It's very easy to buy UK grown vegetables all the year round, and at this time of year those of us with allotments probably don't have to buy any. But fruit is very difficult - there is no UK grown fruit available at all for much of the year and when there is it seems to be very limited and rather expensive. In spring and summer, I think if you're going to buy an apple from New Zealand or South Africa, you might as well buy a mango from Burkina Faso. In the old days I suppose everyone would bottle fruit for the winter - you just wouldn't eat it unless it was in season.
The organic/fair trade/local dilemma is mind boggling. Then when you look round and see that nobody else is even giving it any thought at all it makes you wonder why you bother.
Still - there are more people taking their own bags, so perhaps the message is slowly getting through,...; 13 August 2008 at 17:09

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Tuesday, 12 August 2008

Ethical overload

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