I'm not really going to liken Jane Perrone to Mother Teresa, but during all the kerfuffle about Monty Don going on his way, this focal voice for allotmenteers has quietly announced she's giving up her plot. It has occurred to me that it almost seems to have suited her not to
get too much attention: typical of the modest, helpful and kind attitude she has always shown on her blog.
Jane says - to a chorus of "I couldn't agree more" among her fans - that she can't deal with a job, a baby and an allotment. Though it's a sad decision, you can see she's taken it mindful of the long waiting lists for plots in the capital, as well as thinking of her own sanity.We all really hope she's going to keep blogging, at least.
It put me in mind of King Henry's Walk in Islington, where the lucky key-holders have been granted some of the very few brand-new plots created in the past 10 years. King Henry's
Walk is a tiny community garden with its own extremely local catchment area; as a result, the plot size is limited to about 2x3m. Yet each gardener has enough space to grow something, and gains from the community spirit and shared work which all keen allotment-holders talk about.
If 10 poles really is too big for most working people with social lives, could councils be persuaded to create more schemes on the scale of King Henry's Walk?
Anyway, back to Jane and her blog Horticultural. In the time-honoured style of Big Brother, here are some of her best bits:
- Manicure vs manure
- The pigs arrive
- Never put a pumpkin in a microwave. Unless you actually want this to happen.
- And don't squish snails in your slippers, either.
- Gardeners are serial killers, Part 1
- Gardeners are serial killers, Part 2
- The House Plant Expert
- Perrone's apparently unstoppable enthusiasm for the Battersea Dogs of the shed world
- All the very real pleasure of growing your own
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