When I moved into our cottage three years ago I'd never done any gardening before. I'd always rented houses with yards. I did grow up on a croft with lots of land and my parents always had a lovely garden. I used to watch my mum doing the gardening but never felt the urge to have a go. I'd watched my old housemates grow the odd bit of veg in pots in the back yard. It was when I started getting into programmes like River Cottage that I realised I wanted to have a go at growing my own and if the chance came I'd grab it.
This is our veg plot. Just showing a sort of before and after.
I liked the idea of cooking with fresh food and the process looked so much fun to me. The first year was scary but really exciting and hugely rewarding when things worked. It's like magic. It sounds sad but I still can't believe that you plant a seed and it turns into food. Some people find all this very boring, time consuming, uncool, I dunno but well I reckon it's one of the most awesome things to be able to do.
Sam got a bit too excited about our first carrots. Thing is it is true what they say, it does taste so much better straight out of the ground.
Our cat Gilmore got a bit confused with our tomatoes. I think he liked them.
I even made jam one year. Another first for me.
This year we grew Spring Onions. We were naughty and forgot about them over the Winter. They were just sitting in our greenhouse for months. We thought they weren't doing anything and then one day this! And they taste of Spring onions and everything (as you'd hope)
I guess some people would call me a nerd but I honestly think veg gardening is the new rock and roll :o)
As we are only renting the place I can't invest too much money in it. We are making do with what we have and it's been amazing to have a plot as part of the house. I'm aware of how difficult it is to get allotments and there are waiting lists and all sorts.
It's been an amazing time here and I don't think Sam and I have felt so creative before. We seem to be constantly creating and keeping busy with various music and art projects. As we are only renting I treasure the time spent here all the more. It is a bit of a joke to people that we are out here. It's a bit of a joke to us as well when you think we've recorded five or six albums between us since we've been here.
I look forward to every season. I can't wait for these guys to come out >>>
I've just planted beetroot, radish, early potatoes, tomatoes, kale, carrots, sorrel, chives and next up is runner beans and anything else I can get. I'm looking forward to the damsons again. They make the best jam and gin. Now that is rock and roll right? I think we are actually going to attempt to make our own wine. We are skint artists after all.
