25 August 2021 – Garden Clippings!!
This month, at the #Newcastle Common shop, I’ve been inviting visitors to the shop to print a little seed envelope, and take home some British wildflower seeds to grow either at home or to scatter on a neglected space in their local area.
In return, they’ve been talking to me about all things garden related. It’s fascinating how global events affect how people view their gardens. It’s as if the gardens represent a microcosm of the world.
On my fourth public facing week with the folk of Newcastle, many of the stories made it clear that certain common themes and preoccupations were popping up.
Empty shelves, caused either by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the so-called ‘ping-demic’, and the changes that trade rules that are accompanying Brexit, are creating a desire to be more self-sufficient with some people.
One young father told me about his plans to create a ‘square foot garden’ in his suburban home. This is a marvellously efficient way of growing, with a grid of typically 16 growing beds measuring just 1’x1’ (30cm x 30 cm) growing a range of edibles. It was popularised by Mel Bartholomew in his 1981 book Square Foot Gardening. The whole mantra of this method of gardening is ‘more food: less space’ and I think it helps that it is quite an orderly and attractive way of producing food. The young dad had worked out precisely how many grids he could fit onto his garden, and how much fresh food he could produce for his family as a result. In a very literal and practical way, he has decided to take back control of his household’s food and be responsible for how it is produced.
Environmental stories in the news are certainly having an impact on how people view their relationship with the environment. Wildfires, flooding and an increase in other extreme weather events are causing some to reflect on their own impact on the environment. Several visitors wanted to know how to set aside a corner of their gardens for nature, and many had given ‘No Mow May’ a go, although there was a clear divide between those that enjoyed the shaggier lawn, and those that itched to get their mowers out and restore a closely-clipped sward.
Well over a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, and with the restrictions it brought, many people have taken a keener interest in walks in and around Newcastle. The Pandemic has opened out where they explore in the Borough, and this, in turn has created an interest in learning about wild plants. One couple took up foraging, but shared a cautionary tale! They spotted what looked like field mushrooms Agaricus campestris growing out of compost, and concluded that mushroom spores from food waste had probably grown into them.
They harvested them and cooked them, but the sautéed mushrooms didn’t quite smell right. After consulting Google, they found out that a similar looking mushroom Agaricus xanthodermos (meaning literally ‘yellow tissue under the skin’) bore a striking resemblance to field mushrooms, with the exception that, when the stem is cut across, the inside is a striking turmeric yellow, giving it the common name yellow stainer. Hubby was dispatched to the compost heap to find some of the discarded stems. Low and behold, they found that the inside of the stems was bright yellow. “Thank goodness for Google!”, was his relieved response. A Newcastle poisoning, narrowly, avoided!
I’m now taking the stories I’ve collected over the public facing sessions, and illustrating them to make socio-geographic maps – or memory gardens, as I prefer to call them. It’s a way of gathering the best of the stories and information people have shared with me over the course of the residency, and creating a lasting artefact to store them.
All best wishes
Ladybird Su
