Monday 6 May 2013

How this Gardener was born!!!

Well it has been a hectic week and I was going to tell you all about it until miraculously I found out that I hadn't missed the deadline for the 'Fire Pit competition' being hosted by GLA and sponsored by Select Furnishings.I am hoping that these two links meet the criteria for entering the competition so that I can get on with my story.

My village


Ever since I can remember I have loved to be outdoors. I would play in the mud and search for insects and keep a rare selection of 'pets' to see how they grew and changed. But it wasn't just the animals outside that I loved, it was the air, the scents, the sights and the smells.


Just one of the many beautiful views to be witnessed whilst walking in my village

I have been lucky enough to live in a large village for my entire life, surrounded by farmers fields and pastures and even as a child I would walk for miles to forage berries go strawberry picking and picking over the fields after a potato harvest.

So was this what gave me the inspiration to be a gardener and gave me my love for it??

As I grew older more generations joined in the foraging


I don't think so! I think it's just a part of who I am, after all myself and siblings had the same upbringing and chances as each other and yet among the three of us I was the only gardener born, so maybe no matter where I had lived or what I had done as a child I would have had this need to grow and tend the garden!!

My Mum always grew a few veg but lots of flower plants as I grew up and I would help her in the greenhouse but when I got my own house with my Hubby my interest took a slightly different turn to my Mums and I turned more towards growing to eat instead of to decorate which in actual fact works well for us as we have the chance to swap with each other all the time!

This worked well for us both as I would raise the crops and My Mum would raise the flowers and then we could do 'swapsies'...the perfect combination!!

Only problem was that my garden wasn't really big enough to accommodate crops, the children and the animals so this was when I started looking into getting an allotment. When I got my first half plot I was very much a novice but loved the learning curve and being out there growing and harvesting my own food.

Becoming an allotment holder gave me lots more space to grow and lots of people to ask advice from


My Hubby doesn't like to garden at all but I was happy to do it on my own and have gotten a great sense of accomplishment out of my garden and the food it has produced. Now as I further my experiences I will be keeping bees in the future and so hopefully also producing my own honey

Oh dear...I seemed to have started rambling...after all I was just supposed to be telling you how I got into gardening in the first place, I guess it was with the help of my Mum...then the fact that I lived by so many farms and near such good foraging spots helped me branch out into growing veg. That then led onto going for an allotment, not just so that I could grow but so that I could provide for my family, help teach my children about where and how things grew. All that aside though..I think it is just a part of me and that without my allotment/garden I would only be half of the person that I am today.
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8 comments:

  1. My hubby wasn't a gardener at all until I got my allotment, but he's now embracing the hobby. It's nice to have a hobby we can do together. Good luck with the competition.

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  2. It certainly does fulfill the criteria Tanya. I enjoyed being let in on your story - Good Luck!

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  3. I've always thought it would be good to get into gardening. Now that I have enough land to do it I still haven't really started it. I wish I had the same passion for it that you do.

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  4. Growing your own vegetables is very satisfying. Our daughters have an allotment influenced by my husband's interest and way of life, just as you have been encouraged by your Mum.

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  5. Great to read your story! The bee keeping in the future sounds interesting. All the best, Kelli.

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  6. interesting!! My dad had 2 tomato plants every yr... and that was enough to instill the desire in me to garden! I keep telling my kids they HAVE to have a garden when they have a house....

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  7. Dear Tanya, I loved reading and getting to know you. I think you are right. I am sure that your upbringing did spark the interest that you love today.
    Thank you for sharing. Blessings dearest and hugs, Catherine xo

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  8. Thanks all for your kind comments. I don't expect to win anything from it but enjoyed writing the post.

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keep it clean...keep it relevant...I look forward to reading your comments!!