THE ADVENTURE BEGINS!

I've been putting off using this title since the beginning, but it really is relevant in this instance. For those of you who follow my Instagram, I'm sort of a gardener/permaculturist/ land tiller now!

Let me back up a little bit and explain how this has all come about. 

After losing both their parents, my partner and his sister inherited land that had remained untouched in over two years. Before then it was used by a local grower who sold what he produced. Accounts of this grower, Selwyn, are that he was superb at what he did, but he was extremely messy. One day he decided, for health reasons, that he wouldn't continue growing on the land. His clothes still hang up in the shed. I hear he is doing well now. 

Two days ago, six weeks deep into lockdown, I decided we should do something with the land. Pre-lockdown we were going through the process of buying a house, which has now been put on hold by the bank. So, after decluttering our current abode to Marie Kondo-like proportions, we decided to declutter some land. As our plans for our yet-to-be home garden continued to morph into Cefn Mabley Farm Estate, I thought "hang-on, there is an acre of land sat up in the valleys, why the hell are we trying to grow the entire Whole Foods vegetable section in our back garden?" Alas, a project was born. 

Our desire to do this stems from our goal of cutting out as much single-use plastic as we can. We buy local whenever we can, but we work full-time and sometimes the supermarket ends up being the easiest option, but not always the best when it comes to plastic waste. We also felt that the land deserved to be cared for and enjoyed, as it had been for my partner and his family for many years. 

I have no idea how all of this will turn out. I own four house plants (currently I rent a flat, no garden) three of which were given to me by my mum, who still checks they're alive when she visits. I had a chilli plant because I was given the seeds with the receipt in Wahaca. You get where this is going. My knowledge of gardening has been watching homesteading videos on Youtube and Googling 'permaculture'. I have yet to read the Wikipedia page. 

Lockdown will make it tough to have helpers at the beginning, but we're already in over our heads. We've got this. 

I think. 

For all the latest updates on this project, please follow me on Instagram here.