Freedom and choice is what happens when you decide to grow…whether it’s in a window box or on a half acre smallholding, or more.

The mindset of producing food in growing, foraging, making and storing induces a sense of liberation, as well as a feeling of well-being and harmony with the Earth.

Freedom of choice begins to manifest before your very eyes, for free.

Food: organic or not; how much and what kind; for storing or for selling; food to share, food to give; the choices go on…and as this happens, personal knowledge grows immensely!

Storing and making and baking and cooking and creating…

Growing food , whether it be you actually doing it or simply enabling others to grow by buying surplus, locally produced food is of great benefit to the new scheme of things…cutting down on air miles, pollution and supporting local economies.

Creating small food communities by locally sourcing, helps to grow communities, encouraging interaction on a natural level.

Selling or sharing a surplus is a positive social networking ingredient!

The choice is yours.

Isn’t that a great word, “choice?”

And so to Radio 4:

PW: It does seem strange for a Green council to want to increase allotment prices…Why did you change your plans?

PW (sounding dismissive and resentful): Umm – well, that was – you know – a, a political matter – er – we – you know – there was, there was clearly some opposition to it a-a-nd it was the whole council had to make a budget decision.

That’s it Pete – tell it like it is!

We need a voice and we need to be formally recognised by the parish council in order to talk like civilised people about terms, conditions, rules and regulations.

However, I am often in the agreement with Groucho Marx:

I don’t care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.

There will now be as many committees in the village as there are in Westminster.

Meanwhile, the allotmenteers of South Hams are manning the barricades in support of more allotments.

Vive La Revolution!

• unpacked seeds from Dobies
• laid out onion sets and garlic
• carted milk bottles full of water to the allotment butt
• chatted with (let’s call him) Philip and (let’s call him) Alex
• fixing the garden butt no.1 and clearing out sludge from the bottom – good compost!
• pruning and sorting out kindling

• making marmalade (left pips in, oops)

Sunday:

• carted milk bottles full of water to the allotment butt
• chatted with (let’s call him) George
• fixing the garden butt no.1 – the filler didn’t work, but I found some plumbing fixer in the shed
• making more marmalade (without pips)
• updating this ‘ere blog