Debs in conversation with Anna

In the start of a new series, I thought it would be great to hear from some other people about topics vaguely sustainable-ish. In this new social media age, I asked a few of my friends (read targeted and begged!) if they'd be willing to answer a few questions. First up (because she sent her answers back first!) is Anna, and I was really interested from what I've seen on facebook about her forays into having an allotment.

1)Tell me a bit about yourself

Hi, I’m Anna, mum of 2 cheeky children, 2 guinea pigs and 2 stick insects. I’m a full time parent and carer to my son who has autism.


2) How did you first get into growing things, and what made you take the leap into getting an allotment?

To be honest, I’ve never been able to grow anything! I remember having cactuses as a child and even they didn’t survive. I never considered myself green fingered!
I went through a few life changes a couple of years ago, and as a result, I realised the need to take better care of my mental health. I was given a book called ‘pips to plants’ and decided to try and grow an avocado from one of the ones I had bought from Tesco. To my total surprise, and after weeks of waiting and changing the water, it actually grew! It showed me that plants just need a little time, nurture and love; a bit like people!
I wanted to spend more time outdoors, so I looked into local allotments and found out there was one 3 minutes walk from my house. I signed up and decided I would do it for a year and see how it went. I also thought it would be a lovely thing to get the kids involved in. At the time, I had very little expectation as to how ‘successful’ it would be.

3) What successes and/or failures have you had?
 
Do you mean in life? Or at my allotment? In life I think my greatest success is making a little home for my family. I don’t always get it right, but I show up every day and give it my best shot.
My best success with my allotment has to be setting it all up. That was the hardest part. Once it was ready to grow, my success has definitely been runner beans. They’re pretty easy to look after, and need plenty of watering. There’s nothing quite like coming back every couple of days and having a whole new array of beans to pick. My 7 plants produced so many beans that I ended up giving loads away and I still have 2 bags sitting in the freezer.
I’ve been pretty lucky that I haven’t had too many failures beyond leaving the broccoli too long until it sprouted out everywhere and I couldn’t eat it. One funny fail that I had, was after attempting to grow the broccoli again, I noticed that it was growing balls on the stalk! I then realised that I was actually growing Brussels sprouts! I must label my seeds better. They tasted good at Christmas though.

4) How does growing your own food made you and your family thinks differently about other things?

Growing my own veg has given me an appreciation for the process, time, care and attention it takes to make something from scratch. It’s made me think about how mass production uses chemicals to speed up growth and keep the bugs away, so I make an effort to grow organically. I use things like sustainable washing up liquid mixed with water to spray the leaves and keep the aphids away. I also use egg shells as a deterrent for slugs and snails. I try to keep all chemicals out of my patch.
It’s also made me think about the distance that some food has to travel to get to the supermarkets from other countries.

5) What advice would you give to someone who wants to start growing stuff, but had no idea where to start?
 
Advice I would give to anyone starting out, is to start small and just have a go. Tomatoes and cucumbers are really easy and you can buy a grow bag and start in the garden. Potatoes are really easy too. I was overwhelmed at first with the idea of filling a plot, but I decided to just use half of it. Once I got started, I kept adding more and more, and by 6 months it was full!

6) How do you balance everything/make time to get out and grow stuff?  How do you manage 'mummy guilt' or the desire to get everything done perfectly?

I’m lucky that because I’m a full time parent and carer, I have hours in the day when the kids are at school. I can go up to my plot and do half an hour of weeding and water everything without it taking up the whole day. At the weekends, I take the kids with me. They love watering, there’s lots of space to run around and a nice tree close by that they like to climb. The most exciting time for them (and for me) is picking the produce.
I don’t worry too much about getting it perfect. I see it as an experiment. If it works it works, if it doesn’t, I’ll learn from it. That goes for parenting as well. We can only do our best.

7) What song is the anthem for your life, or the season you're in now?

I don’t have a song/anthem as such, but I do like the quote:

“Like a lotus flower, we too have the ability to rise from the mud, bloom out of the darkness, and radiate into the world.”


Thanks so much Anna for being a part of my blog experiment. I think we need to try growing some tomatoes or something in our patio pots again this year - I'm definitely feeling inspired to have ago.
Below are some photos from Anna's allotment - stolen from facebook with permission!