Gardening – Greening the bubble

Survival and gardening have gone hand in hand for centuries, but in the last 50 years we have perfected the art of the unproductive urban landscape while becoming nearly completely dependent on long, and highly oil-dependent, supply chains.

Gardening is about being prepared, and hopefully the lesson learned by this snap lockdown was to plan ahead, making sure, like the kitchen pantry, you have a small stock of seeds, seed sowing mix and a full compost bin.  

I had trays of seedlings available that suddenly could not be planted in the school garden, which was off limits to everyone. I filled a wheelbarrow with seedlings and put it up by the letterbox with a sign saying ‘Free to a Good Garden’. I met lots of locals who were thankful for some plants that would help them engage their children in the outdoors.

The wonder of the edible garden is how quickly you can always have something to eat. Quick salad crops: radish, rocket, carrots, Asian greens, mizuna, mustard, tatsoi and a huge variety of eye-catching lettuces will provide endless salads and stir-fries.

Beans are an absolute staple – small French beans for a quick harvest and a variety of climbing beans for eating fresh and drying, to have a store of seeds to dry for future cooking and planting.

I practice a method that I call ‘survival gardening’ – should, for any reason, access to a plant-based diet be cut off, even a short time, I would have enough produce for harvesting to feed my family. That means that I intercrop, succession plant, and grow a mix of annuals and perennials. Broccoli, spring onions, leeks, lettuces, Chinese cabbages, bok choi are all vegetables that can be ‘cut-and-come-again’, providing a long-term yield.

I also keep a few hens, although I have to admit their run has just been fenced and reduced by half. I ran out of gardening space and have taken the sunniest microclimate to plant an early crop of beans and set up containers for tomatoes.

Tiny crop made easy
You can sprout microgreens on a kitchen bench or windowsill. All you need is a jam jar, a rubber band and a piece of multi-use muslin. Hopefully you have lentils, beans or mustard seeds in the cupboard. You’ll need a seed tray (a large takeaway tray from the recycling bin will do) and something to act as a drip tray underneath. Fill the tray with seed sowing mix.  Raid the cupboard for anything that might sprout: popcorn kernels, coriander, whole lentils (split lentils won’t germinate), mung beans, chickpeas and dried peas are all ideal.  Gently push each seed into the soil so it is just buried. Water to get your crops growing – remember, seeds prefer gentle watering.  Place your mini farm somewhere light and warm, where you can keep an eye on it. Harvest with scissors and watch them regrow.