My Tiny Plot

I’m always intrigued to see what other people grow in their kitchen gardens. So, when we went to visit my sister-in-law, Kristin, I went straight out into her back garden to inspect her ’square-foot gardening’. I was amazed (and I must admit slightly jealous) by what she was growing in such a small space. 

Practically, everything Kristin was growing was bigger than the plants I had in the UK. Her corn was nearly 7 or 8 foot high, and her Basil plant was huge and very healthy (we got a bucket-load of leaves from it to make fresh Pesto). She was also growing a ton of Jalapeno peppers that were already fruiting, a Watermelon and lots of Cherry Tomatoes.

I had assumed that since Colorado is so dry that it wouldn’t be the ideal place for growing vegetables. However, it is sunny; over 300 days of sunshine per year. And the bottom line is that you can provide water, but you can’t provide sunshine, especially in the UK where I live. 

For me it’s always touch and go with veg like Sweetcorn, Tomatoes, Melons, Basil and Chili Pepper - will they ripen in time, will they get enough sunshine? In Colorado they certainly don’t have to worry about that.

Okay so this post isn’t strictly about ‘my tiny plot’ but I wanted to tell you about something we’ve been doing this week that I feel comes under the same umbrella as growing your own, leading a more simple life and generally looking after yourself and the environment at the same time.

We’ve been on holiday. But we stayed at home - at least we used our home as a basecamp from which to go on day trips here, walks there, or just stay in and have a movie day. I’m calling it ‘Holiday at Home’ after the campaign, during the war in the 1940s, for more people to ‘holiday at home’ in order to conserve money and curb unnecessary travel for the war effort.

Holiday at Home is designed to give us more time together (very little traveling), with all the comforts of home (ideal when you have a small child), and the opportunity to explore in and around our favourite city (Bath).

This has been our schedule:

Day One: Exploring Bath and Geocaching (waaay too complicated to explain here so it’s best if you follow the link)

Day Two: Day trip to Glastonbury (officially full of weird things)

Day Three: Movie Day at home (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone still rocks!)

Day Four: Pig Hunt in Bath (with a map and everything)

Day Five: Trip to Blenheim Palace (wow!)

Day Six: Boat trip from Bath to outlying villages (we saw three Herons and a Kingfisher)

Day Seven: Walking on the canal and swimming at the Bath Thermae Spa

Day Eight: BBQ in garden

I realise this is not for everyone (nor am I suggesting it should be). But it’s been great for us.

The Pros are many:

It’s cheap. You don’t have to pack. You don’t have to travel. You don’t have to get someone to feed your cat. You can plan your days far in advance. You can cook your favourite meals and put them in your freezer to eat while you’re on holiday.

The Cons are:

The weather may be sucky (be prepared). You may have the urge to do the washing (resist). It’s easy to be sucked into ‘house stuff’ because people don’t really believe that you’re on holiday (ignore the postman).

But in general it’s a great way to spend a holiday. It’s not really an attempt to reduce our carbon footprint. I have to admit, Holiday at Home is not our only holiday. No, Holiday at Home is more an attempt to see if we can have a holiday on a low budget and near our home and still have great family time. So far, so good!

I’m in Austin (Texas) right now for the SXSW Interactive Festival. That may explain why I haven’t posted anything over the past few days. Not only have I been sat in darkened rooms absorbing all kinds of geeky info that will help me be more ‘interactive’ but I’ve also been on a one-girl mission to break the world record for eating the most American diner breakfasts in one week. Austin is cool! Apart from the fact that it’s warm it also seems to be a city that is full of bars and restaurants and no shops (which is great since I’m very poor this month). There’s not much greenery in Austin (since it’s so darn hot I guess) but I did find a little piece of spearmint heaven in one small coffee shop.

And they even provide toys for the local wildlife - bless!

We’ve just returned from a romantic sojourn in the beautiful, misty and mysterious city of Venice (is Venice a city - I guess it is). First things first - Venice is beautiful and everyone must go to see it at least once in their life. It’s the law. Secondly, there are no taxis (well if you don’t count water taxis) so my feet are officially ‘killing me’ after walking what felt like the length of Italy along tiny cobbled streets and even smaller stone bridges. But…I’m not complaining because I managed to squeeze in some seed shopping (yes! I found a seed shop - in Venice.). To my complete delight we rounded a corner after exiting the Vivaldi violin museum (did you know that he was a priest before a composer?) - and there, large as you like, was this stand, groaning under the weight of beautiful, coloured seed packets. Yey! Myself and some Chinese tourists could hardly contain ourselves as we tried to turn the little stand without being totally rude and whisking it around just when the other is reaching for a packet. Still, after much deliberation I decided on three packs - a Tomato variety called Pomodoro a Grappolo Robin, a thin-leaf, ‘Italian’ (is there any other kind?) Basil called Verde Compatto, and a vegetable that is completely new for me Raperonzolo, which can only be described as looking like a white carrot. I asked the shop-keeper how to cook it and, as he didn’t speak English, he made a chopping action with his hands and then pretended to eat something. I’m not sure if that means you should eat it raw, or not, but at least it confirms that it ‘is’ for eating. Anyway - I’m soooo excited about growing my Italian seeds that they now have pride of place in my seed box (ie. right at the front).

We’re in Chicago (for both work and pleasure) and it’s a beautiful city. I think it may have become my favourite American city almost overnight. The parks are beautiful, the architecture is amazing, the pancakes are huge and the downtown area is littered with these little garden oasis. They are different for every street. Some have ornamental Cabbage, some chrysanthemums and pansy, while others, like this one I spotted on Michigan Avenue have gone for the tiny allotment look with this Ruby Chard. It makes a great colour splash in the wet weather. There are also pumpkins outside almost every front door, and ornamental gourds made into wreaths and candle holders (in one shop). It’s all very wintry and lovely! Now where are my pumpkin seeds?