Every spare second I've had has been spent on being connected with the earth. The joy I have felt over the last six months is hard to describe. The honest truth is I've stopped to breathe, take in my surroundings and put down roots. I disconnected myself from screens and TV. I've stopped spending energy on situations that were soul-sapping. I was tired and worn out and so I just stopped. And started on me, working on my dreams, which is something I've never done in my 39 years.
I started with a spade and some spray paint. The back lawn, despite being lush and a place where I would sit on a blanket and eat my dinner, got severely frost-bitten with our Winter frost. It turned from a glorious vibrant green to a heartbreaking yellow:
And so we planned and carved out:
And I started digging:
Every spare minute I had, even in the dark, I dug. Using Heath's grandmother's shovel with worn metal and faded wood, it sliced into the earth which for me was both sentimental and meditative. My mind's constant whirling was replaced by rhythmic breathing and within what seemed like a short period of time, one vegetable bed site was cleared. Yes, I could have hired a rotary hoe and had it completed in half hour, but the fact that our entire yard was hand dug, tilled, rowed, planted and watered is very special to me and my connection with nature.
By the end of October, progress was certainly being made:
As each bed was finished, it sat for two weeks prior to planting out with seedlings. This is a pic taken on 18 November 2017 with one of the beds 'cooking'.
And by 8 December, we were in full swing with planting, maintaining and harvesting (with the two last beds to be finished in time for Autumn 2018):
This is the most recent pic taken on 9 January from the same angle:
The last six months have been a lot of hard work. We have failed, had entire seedlings munched by slugs, nearly lost our entire orchard and ran out of water! I've felt muscles I've never felt before and my, have I been sleeping well! But to see how far we've come in what we've been told by the veterans has been a very short time is the most rewarding of all. To say I'm proud is an understatement as, as a child, I couldn't stand gardening; I thrive by succeeding after many failures and the education has been immense. But most of all, to see our veggie box customers' faces when they see what we've grown for them is what makes me happy. To share our knowledge, our food and seedlings and the discussions had and relationships formed with great people is what makes all the hard work worth it. And that joy is indescribable. I know now what my lot in life is and living that every day is worth more than all the money in the world!
Come and follow what we're up to in the patch on Instagram @ourfarmdream :)
