The Real Scottish Vegetable Garden
About me
I'm a writer, an environmentalist, and a gardener. I've been gardening for about eight years now, and when I started out, I blundered into it with a huge amount of enthusiasm, but practically no knowledge whatsoever. I've learned a lot of things the hard way, and I've really benefitted from the shared experience of others. So now it's my turn to share my knowledge with you.
21st century gardening
There are many things that make modern-day gardening a challenge. First of all, lots of us doing even have gardens! We live in flats in cities, with a pot of coriander on the kitchen window-sill, and a dream of one day having a plot that we can call our own.
Then there's the knowledge. Not many schools teach kids how to grow things, and few of us have the advantage of skills passed on through the generations.
The positive thing about gardening today, however, is the internet. It's a wonderful tool for sharing information, and is every bit as important as your spades, trowels and trugs. So take advantage. And even if your perfect plot is still just a figment of your green-tinged imagination, get yourself some knowledge while you're waiting. Here are a few good sites to start you off.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/
http://www.organiccatalogue.com
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk
Starting from nothing
My garden is pretty cool. It's south facing, with decent soil, and on a slight slope, which helps drainage. I live in central Scotland, so the winters can be quite harsh, and the summers wet, but most years, it's possible to get a reasonable harvest.
When I inherited the garden is was just a big expanse of soil, but with the help of friends and family, it's been transformed with raised beds, two sheds and a greenhouse. We've taken out a lot of plants that didn't really work, and replaced them with different areas of shrubs, vegetables, lawn, and even a wildflower meadow.
Now it's a bit of a haven for wildlife and for me!
Where I am now
My experiences in gardening have been as dramatic as the changing seasons. I now have a productive garden, and the skills to tend it, but sadly, I also have soil that I'm reluctant to grow much food in.
The reason is that I've inherited heavy metals. I don't know from where exactly, but even in a village, people do all sorts of stuff to their gardens, with little thought to the future or the next generation.
Kinda similar to what we're doing to our planet.
No point getting despondent. I've changed the way I garden, and I've also started to think more about the environmental issues surrounding gardening. I hope you find some of my thoughts useful.