The drooling vegetable

Just what the digital world needs: another blog!

I thought I’d better set out why I’ve launched this blog. I’ve got a little vegetable plot at the bottom of the garden, and as of February 2009 I’ve just got an allotment plot at the end of our road.

(Visit it on Google Earth: 51 degrees 23’56.28″ N, 0 degrees 02’51.40″ W)

The blog is about all the stuff that I’m doing in either the garden or the allotment – deciding what to grow, planting, digging, killing slugs and so on. Hopefully it’s going to be worth reading.

So that’s what it’s about. But why I’m sticking it all in a blog rather than just doing it, well, I couldn’t really say. I’m not sure my life is that interesting, but it’s a fun thing (for me) to do so here it is.

In that vein I thought I’d sum up what I’m after when I pull on my wellies and leave the house:

1. It’s got to be organic

I can’t see the point of growing your own fruit and veg if you’re going to use loads of chemicals. You may as well buy a bigger range of veg whenever you want from the professionals that grow it for a living.

2. It’s got to look nice

Sounds a bit fluffy, this one. But if I’m going to spend loads of time in the garden – and taking piccies for you lovely people – then I want it to look good. Not in a formal, potager-style masterpiece, probably more of a shabby chic effort. But there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to be functional – grow stuff to eat – and aesthetically pleasing.

3. This isn’t a life-consuming passion

I’ve got a(nother) life away from the vegetables. A large-ish family and a full time job are both more important than fresh tomatoes.

Probably.

So I don’t want an allotment that’s going to require 10 hours a week just to keep on top of the weeds.

4. Child-friendly is a good thing

If I can combine spending quality time with the boys with growing fruit and veg then that’s a win-win situation. And getting them to understand where their food comes from is a big part of all this: seeing them get a kick out of pulling a tuft of green out of the ground and finding a carrot attached to it, or watching them take themselves off to the bottom of the garden to eat all the raspberries down there is the whole point.

5. Common is boring

I can get hundreds of different organic vegetables in pretty much every supermarket I go to. I want to grow something different – yellow carrots, or stripey tomatoes. Heritage blackberries that are dying out – stuff like that. Not a horticultural freakshow, and normal-ish veggies are hardly banned, but something a bit more interesting than the shrink-wrapped stuff in the fruit and veg section.

So there you have it. Still not sure why I’m writing a blog about all of the above and not just quietly getting on and doing it in a more traditionally British fashion, but hey ho.

I’m going to try and stick a new post up every week, so let’s see how we get on…