Gardening

This year marks the 20th National Potato Day and what better way to celebrate the fourth most important world food crop? The potato originated in the Andes, in high elevation zones. When it made its way to Europe in the 1500s, it was considered a food for the lower classes. An anti-famine crop, it was recognised as a nutritious food for the poor.

Flowers are probably our most common default present - in the UK we spend £2.2 billion on cut flowers every year. A nice bunch for your mother-in-law to say happy birthday. A get-well gift for an ailing auntie. A token of love for your partner. Even a treat for yourself to brighten up the house after a long week at work. Flowers lift our spirits and speak words of condolence, comfort, celebration and love. And yet, our addiction to cut flowers is a bit of an ethical nightmare.

May is officially asparagus season in Britain. Crunchy and fresh, asparagus is one of our most delicious vegetables, well worth the wait until spring. It’s also a vegetable that dehydrates quite quickly – hence those stringy, bitter asparagus tips in the supermarkets all year round, flown in from South America and Spain. British asparagus is surprisingly juicy and the flavour unique. From the lily family, alongside onions and leeks, asparagus has a bud-like head and a long stalk, both of which are edible.

Whether you’re a Christian who celebrates the resurrection of Christ, a Pagan who celebrates the goddess Eostre and her hare, or simply someone who loves nature, there’s plenty to get excited about at this time of year. Kids are off school and a lot of adults get the Easter weekend off so there’s an opportunity for quality family time. All of the symbolism connected with Easter celebrates new life: eggs, baby bunnies, and lambs to name but a few. Hedgerows are bursting with life, birdsong is in the air, the fields and woods are full of young animals and it feels as if anything is possible.

There’s no doubt about it, the Brits are a nation of garden lovers. We now even have a national week dedicated to our beloved pastime – National Gardening Week http://www.nationalgardeningweek.org.uk/ – which runs annually from 14th to 20th April. Whether you have acres of land or simply a few flower pots on a windowsill, gardening is accessible to all. This time of year is filled with excitement as little seedlings begin to appear and we start to celebrate the arrival of spring. Some cultures mark this time of year as the beginning of a new year and it is easy to see why. After the dark months of winter, the earth is waking up and life springs anew.

7th April is World Health Day, and also celebrates the founding of the World Health Organisation (WHO). Since 1950, this day highlights an area of concern for WHO, calling for education and awareness on a worldwide scale. This year’s World Health Day focuses on vectors - organisms that transmit infections from one host to another – with the emphasis on ticks, mosquitoes and other bugs such as sandflies. Though we are fortunate in the UK not to have to worry too much about diseases transmitted by these creatures, for some countries they pose serious risks to the nation’s health.

Spring heralds a time of change. In the world around us, we see the wheel of the year continue on its cycle and enter a new phase and, whether we like it or not, we’re going along for the ride! Sometimes it can feel like we need just a few more winter weeks to really gather our thoughts and ideas before we bring them into the light. But spring comes leaping and bouncing into our lives with the energy of the lambs, and demands that we shake off the cobwebs and dance into the warmer, brighter days.

Sometimes we are forced to address how much water we use through circumstance. It might be that our water is temporarily cut off, or we are camping or away from a reliable source. The results can be surprising. Just how much water we use when rinsing dishes, for instance, or waiting for water from the hot tap to warm up. My partner and I discovered this when we lived on a boat. All our water came from a tank in the boat’s hull which we had to refill as needed.

Orange pomanders are not only beautiful decorations, they also act as natural room and cupboard and drawer fresheners. Smaller fruits like kumquats can be used to create simple tree decorations. Making a pomander is a fun activity for children, and they make lovely gifts to share with friends and family. Hang them up around the house to enjoy that fresh citrus and clove scent, and after Christmas hang them in your wardrobe to keep your clothes smelling fresh and moths at bay.

Lazy, nature-loving gardeners take note! Turning part of your garden over to wild flowers is one of the best things you can do for wildlife, looks amazing and, best of all, requires little or no maintenance. I am an all or nothing kind of gardener; one day I’m leaping about in green-fingered glee tending to all my little seedlings, the next I’m looking gloomily out the window at beds overrun with weeds. As I have been told umpteen times, the kind of gardens I pore over in pictures and gaze at in envy over garden walls, require attention – and not just a monthly frenzy of activity.