Growing Things

Every spring I have an urge to get my hands dirty in soil, planting things, digging things and poking things with sticks. When I was wee, my parents would spend entire days gardening at this time of year. Inevitably, being Scotland, it was freezing and would rain most of the time. I didn't have much choice about getting involved though - they would ban t.v. and order my brother and I outside for 'fresh air', and to help with digging and weeding and planting things. So I would be out there, up to my elbows in compost, dirt under my finger nails and mud covering my clothes and face. In those days, our family had a decent sized garden and vegetable patch in a clearing in the middle of a forest within a national park. Mum grew leeks and potatoes and carrots, I think. I grew strawberries. The rhubarb grew itself. We even had our very own swamp and meadow.

Nowadays, I live in a one bedroom flat near the centre of Manchester, a grey place. The only vaguely green space anywhere near the house is a patch of neglected, litter-strewn grass outside of our patio door and the park across the road. Nick and I have been talking about appropriating these fertile stretches (that is, if Manchester's concoction of litter, dog crap and other stuff i don't want to think about hasn't destroyed the soil's ability to grow stuff)and using them to grow our own food for the next year. I daydream about it a lot. I think we'd be good at it. There are allotments near by, but the waiting list is 26 people long and there are only 40-odd patches so I doubt we'll get one. I would grow carrots, potatoes, leeks, beans, strawberries... I watched Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's River Cottage programmes with envy. Imagine being able to grow all that stuff to eat. The idea of never having to go to a supermarket ever again is deliciously exciting.

For the mean time, we bought a wee trough that can sit at the window in our flat, and planted it with coriander, tarragon and mint. The mint's gone crazy and taken over. We're not sure why we decided to get mint, since we don't really use it in any of our food. I think I was just looking for something easy, that would instill confidence in my ability to encourage plant growth. We've also planted some lavender in a pot by the window, that's growing strong.

But that wasn't enough... I was still longing to help in the production of new life. That's when I thought about sprouting.