A Secret Garden in the Making
My grown up tools for today. Shiny and clean, ready for action.
I’ve been a bit slow off the mark getting the garden ready for the growing season. Truth be told, I was a little overwhelmed. Silly right. We’ve spent 2 years growing and tending the space but this year feels different.
For those who don’t know, Kith began in 2019 as a grassy sheep field. The first season from September to December we were eyeball deep in mud, thank you to all those who stuck with us that year, thank you for your enthusiasm! We played and dabbled in pretending to know what we were doing, we drew up plans and had grand ideas. The garden took shape one bed at a time. We added fences and a shelter to collect water. It was very much learning as we went. It felt so purposeful and real, a massive shift from the lives we were living before. The excitement and apprehension of growing actual food was huge and each little step taken was a step towards something more tangible we could put our hands on. Oh my goodness though we made mistakes, so many mistakes and wow did we learn! The saying “If you’re not winning, you’re learning” really rings true here.
Over the next two years I worked to create the space we have now. It’s my little haven. I know it inside out and in the height of the summer I can show you around and introduce you to all the growing friends, including the best places to find frogs and caterpillars. The children love it, I love it. When the spring turns into summer, I feel like I can relax in the space. The big flurry of starting seedlings and protecting them from slugs is behind me and quite literally the fruits of my labour are to be seen. I still make mistakes but they’re not quite as big or often now.
Children and adults can come explore, learn and relax. If they’ve had a hand in growing, they harvest a few goodies to take home. It’s soul filling and life giving. I learn as much from the people who visit as they do from me. Where people like to spend their time, how they interact with the space, what they enjoy getting to know, which plants they tend to. I can see where the children congregate (y’know it’s all the tasty stuff, raspberries and peas!) and which they’re not particularly interested in. My curiosity now is how to make this space more magical for people. So I’m thinking along these lines… the Secret Garden led by Monty Don, with RHS standards and the knowledge of Henbant, Daleside and the 90yr old allotment neighbour we used to have, oh and fairies. Realistic?! Maybe not but hopefully you understand my optimistic enthusiasm.
This is where I know I can do more…
The layout of the garden is fairly consistent now, I know more than I did when we began and I have a much better understanding of the full Kith year. When the winter frosts are due to end, when we can expect warmer days, when to ask the wonderful farmers for a water top up, how to keep it all going in the hot summer sun and when to wind down for the season. The biggest learning curve was learning to let go a little. I can’t control it all and don’t need to. Grass grows, creeping buttercup creeps. Learning to flow with the seasons a little more has been the biggest learning opportunity.
I now know that my raspberries fruit in the summer, I prune them in the autumn and add some nutrients back in the winter.
I now know that my rhubarb will be ready to pick after painfully leaving it for a season to establish itself. It didn’t enjoy being moved (twice.)
I now know that peas at Kith grow up some fairly sturdy trellis, started in drainpipes in the polytunnel. I can make two sowings in the growing season. I also know that I won’t get a look in with all the children snacking on them and I love it.
I now know that I can grow pretty decent brussel sprouts and cabbages, I just need to net them properly from the 1000s of beautiful cabbage white butterflies.
I now know that I don’t enjoy growing tomatoes!
But I know that there’s more. It’s like I’ve leapt a hurdle of basic knowing into the next phase, understanding. So this year, it’ll be back to the books, learning more. Like the turning year, learning to work with nature is an ever looping spiral, it comes back around once you know a little.
Here’s what the next loop of my learning spiral looks like…
- compost. I’ve come full circle on this, the first thing ever added to the Kith garden is needing some love. We can yield a little home grown compost but not enough by far.
- managing the slug buddies. I figure if I approach them with kindness and call them buddies, they’re less likely to eat all the early spring goodies. There must be other ways…
- looking after fruit trees. I’ve been kindly gifted a little orchard worth of fruit trees (6 trees make an orchard right?) They’re my babies and I just want to know how to take better care of them
- understanding our soil. If I can learn more about what’s going on down there I’m sure I can make the garden space thrive.
Here’s to learning, I’m so ready.
