The UK used to buy 80% of its perennials in the autumn, because this is the best time to plant. Nature is on our side; rain is more plentiful, and plants establish quickly ready to thrive in the coming spring growing season.
Over the years, this knowledge, previously handed down from generation to generation, has been lost.
We now buy 80% of our perennials in the spring because this suits the garden centres. We have lost our connection to nature’s rhythms, only waking from our slumber when spring is in the air and we feel the urge to garden and connect with growing. By this time, we are already behind schedule, the planning stage has been missed and we are overwhelmed by what is not achievable in a short space of time, and we are driven to the retailers.
Assessing Your Growing Space
- A site assessment provides a starting point for informed decision making
- Understanding the strengths, weaknesses, and potential of your growing space
- Avoiding being led by consuming products and instead focusing on planning first
Plants and all things gardening have become consumer products and most real understanding of gardening fundamentals has been lost from the collective. The PFFA can inspire people to trust their instincts and reject the accepted conditioning and sense of overwhelm from the myth that growing food is a complex process and requires commercial products and strictly laid out processes to succeed. We can empower people, supported by some basic principles to connect to their own innate sense of knowing and learning from elders.
They can regain a sense of nature’s seasons and how to work with them. The ability to assess any existing growing space and understand its strengths, weaknesses and potential will be a great place to start.
The site assessment begins to instill the idea of planning first and then acting second and avoiding being led by consuming products. The survey and assessment process will result in informed decision making when combined with an understanding of the gardening basics. Setting out information on soil will reconnect people to an understanding of its’ critical importance in successful growing. A simple explanation of soil structure and pH will allow people from different geographical locations understand their conditions and select the best crops. We can also recommend how to ‘improve’ extreme situations or offer the option of understanding the concept of ‘right plant right place’ to work with what we have.
Gardening Fundamentals
- Soil structure and pH critical to successful growing
- Top ten list of common pests and diseases
- Basic list of useful tools and how to care for them
- Information on resources such as recommended suppliers, seed swaps and potentially a garden buddy system
- Encouraging compost making and connecting with the garden’s natural rhythms.
A simple explanation of soil structure and pH will allow people from different geographical locations understand their conditions and select the best crops. We can also recommend how to ‘improve’ extreme situations or offer the option of understanding the concept of ‘right plant right place’ to work with what we have. Gardening basics will include a top ten list of the most common pests and diseases.. We will also include what the gardener needs from basic lists of useful tools and how to care for them to information on resources such as recommended suppliers, seed swaps and potentially a garden buddy system. Informing and encouraging compost making is a practical support that also connects people to the garden’s natural rhythms.
