GETTING IN DEEP SH*T

Encouraging my son to grow a vege garden has been an interesting journey, especially given the challenges life has thrown at him.

But persevere we have, believing that he would be better to have his own garden than handouts from foodbanks etc. Getting him to feed the soil rather than just take from it is another matter. Getting into deep sh*t took on another meaning as we attempted a walk up the Witherhills, where I spied pine cones and dry dung! Fortunately the car boot always has a ready supply of plastic supermarket bags - one never knows when they could come in handy.

On returning to his flat, I tried my best to interest his neighbour in doing a regular dung run, all that dry stuff begging to be gathered, run over with the lawn mower and added to the soil. Doesn’t one have to feed the soil too? Came the quick reply:

“You pick up and talk sh*t, and you want me to spread it too?”

I enjoyed a talk by Prof Walker (late soil scientist Thomas Walker, known as ‘the Prof’) some years ago when he said there was always a standard reply to anyone who asked him where was the toilet, when visiting him.

“Third cabbage on the left.”

His belief was that one day we would rue always taking from the soil, never replacing with nature’s bounty.