QUID PRO QUO

I might have learnt next to nothing about growing food or being more self-sufficient: some you win and some you loose as they say around here when it comes to crops. One thing I have noticed in these last few years is that you give to the soil and the soil gives back to you; there is a reciprocal relationship. A rich in manure medium will produce the fattest of cabbages, while nutrient depleted grounds will be insufficient even for one serving. If a patch of ground is planted year after year to exhaustion, crops will diminish progressively. This is applicable to all things: our relationship to other plot-holders and neighbours, our participation in work weekends and events, attendance to meetings and AGMs, the site and the allotments in general, just to mention a few. I sometimes remember the kindness of someone leaving tomatoes for all at the gate or the wildflowers on the path that we planted together during a work weekend and all is saved.

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