I was standing on my allotment a couple of days ago and I suddenly looked at all the plants that are growing there and I was amazed. When you are there every day you don’t notice the changes. I looked at all the life, the things I have planted and the plants that are just there. I had tunnelled into the soil around the potatoes and found some lovely new potatoes. These are the potatoes I planted on 22nd March without any digging, nestling the tubers into the soil under the cardboard which was under a thick layer of compost. And here in my hand was food. Delicious fresh food whose entire history I knew.
And then I stood back and looked across and saw the rows of potatoes – some of the time I’m still planting in rows! – and saw all the kale and and cabbages, and beyond that the Three Sisters, beans, corn and squashes, and beyond that buttercups and cranesbill and soft grasses and beyond that strawberries and I was filled with joy, a quiet joy that is peaceful, a quiet satisfaction and a sudden realisation that This is Working. I am producing food, I am nurturing the soil, there are no enemies, there is only a family of plants and insects and edaphon and I am part of that family, and together we are beginning to change something, and it is amazing – and easy.
The ‘easy’ part probably needs some qualification. It is about making the conditions right and having the materials necessary. I get the compost, from the recycling centre. It’s the stuff every council makes out of your green waste. Some councils give it away. Here I buy it. I had ten cubic metres delivered, and I’m working through it steadily. This is the first year, and I think I may need less next year. The next thing is to find a source of cardboard. Companies who have products that come in boxes have to pay for it to be taken away. So when I turn up in my little van, they are very happy to let me take as much as I want. I go to the local bike shop. They have huge clean boxes.
And yes, I have a little van. That helps a lot, and I have time, I’m retired, that helps too, although there is not much to do once the cardboard and compost are in place.
What matters most, though, is the certainty that I am doing the right thing, feeding my family with uncontaminated food and nurturing the earth, making it better now and into the future.
Get in touch if you want to try this. I’m happy to help.
a small forest garden 
This gives me great inspiration, along with your relaxed approach not just to the #nodigforvictory adventure but to life itself. And I had the pleasure of a visit, being local, and being on the receiving end of generous superfluous seedlings – so I’m back on the way to seeing and sharing some fruits of joint labours later in the year. P.S. The corn is all planted out in a non-linear SWATHE (don’t you just love that word!) the courgettes are revelling in green-house slug-free luxury and the kale are bracing themselves for the little blighters!