Room to grow: how allotment life can be the best therapy

When his wife became ill, Barney Norris found that growing his own food helped him through the traumaFor the past year I ’ve kept an allotment. Taking it over in a state of disrepair, some years after the death of the previous tenant, I’ve cleared weeds, dug beds, planted apple trees, improvised panels for the greenhouse out of bits of transparent plastic conservatory roof, mowed grass and failed to fix the leak i n the potting shed. In between all that, I’ve grown vegetables.I ’ve always had an interest in gardening. My mother encouraged me and my brother and sister to keep a flower bed each when we were kids – mine, being in the shade next to where we buried the pets and underneath the tree house, never thrived, while my brother’s was an absolute suntrap and full o f delicious-smelling lavender. We all helped with the veg beds in the back garden, watering inadequately and massacring slugs, which I’m not all that proud of, but must confess I enjoyed at the time.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Allotments Life and style Psychology Science Health & wellbeing Food Gardens Anorexia Source Type: news