Space between…

Although it’s officially summer, our surrounds are misted in and Fae-like, with heavy dew on the ground. Sometimes it feels as if we live in a space between worlds.

We read of the terrors in the world, violence, climate change, fire and flood, seismic activity, war and famine. A return to the old ways of our ancestors is well and truly a viable proposition in these extremes.

Because of our cooler climate in the hills, we grow all our vegetables and berry fruits in a greenhouse (soon to be two) and only potatoes and green crops for digging in to feed the soil are grown outside, along with fruits such as plums, cherries, quince, apples, pears, alpine strawberries and hardy herbs that love the cooler weather.

We have wild hawthorn and elder aplenty, both elderflower and berry make medicinal extracts for winter colds and flu and wonderful culinary syrups and wines.

A tiny space can be used to grow fresh foods, no matter where you are and even a little wall of hydroponic grow beds is better than nothing. A row of pots on a balcony or verandah will ensure things like lettuce or rocket greens and tomatoes are in abundance.

Strawberries, rich in nutrients, are a snap to grow in hanging pots or strawberry planters.

My grandmother was self-sufficient in fruit and vegetables in a suburban garden in London. All the neighbours grew something different and the whole block shared the produce. Eventually they had gates between, so everyone would help each other out and kids had more room to play. They shared an air raid shelter through both first and second world wars. My great grandparents started the journey and my grandmother (her husband lost in the first WW) looked after both them as they aged and raised her two daughters, my mother and aunty, in this loving environment.

As we, my sisters and I came along and others on the block, child minding was a community affair and everyone new exactly where we were and that we were safe. Post war, it was a simple lifestyle and sharing garden space created a hub of activity and friendship. I spent a fair bit of time here with my nanna, who gave me the groundwork of what became my lifestyle of choice.

I grew up through my formative years on a farm in West Sussex until college years. My parents were busy academics, but the garden there was also a lifestyle they chose. We were surrounded by dairy country and orchards and my young days were filled with the natural process of seed sow and grow, production and harvest both on the farm and in a London, back garden community, cooperative. An absolute win-win for this nature child.

We weren’t pampered children and were taught that if we wanted something we had to save for it unless it was an essential they provided. We were taught to respect what we had and to look after it well. Good, fresh, homegrown food was a privilege and we were a part of the growing seasons and cycles wherever we were.

So… what if we wanted less… not less of those vital ingredients such as a roof over the head, clean water, good food, fresh air, family and friends in healthy relationships but less of the stuff world media says we have to have or we’re simply not good enough?

Will a bigger house

feed your children

Will a sports car pay the rent

Will your expensive habits

be the cure

for a twisted mind

drug-ridden and spent

Will killing a neighbour

or a stranger

give power to your

lethal pain

Will beating your partner

make you better

…make you sane

Will you be a better person

because you follow

the brigade

of having over giving

forgetting love

is how we’re made

When the chips fall

and the ‘thing’s’ broke

cos it’s cheap

and shoddy goods

will you reuse it

rebuild it

renew it

or chuck it in the woods

With the world’s pollution drastic

simple living overpriced

workers underpaid

the oceans drown in plastic

what do you need

what will you save

What is important to you

at the end of the day

the throw away things

the glamorous trims

or the love-strewn

nature’s way

Life is nothing to do with having ‘stuff’ if we have our basic needs met… and if we continue buying into the world of plastics and throw away goods, our planet and a myriad of species simply will not survive…