Small Plot? No Problem!

We've had several dinners lately that consisted mainly of home-grown vegetables and herbs, e.g. a ratatouille containing home-grown courgettes, tomatoes, onions and garlic (peppers from the supermarket, alas), and I'm starting to feel that semi-self-sufficiency might be achievable next year.

There are some things we'll never self-sufficient in without a lot more space and time - peppers and tomatoes (we'd need a proper greenhouse for the quantities we like to eat), and of course maincrop potatoes - but when it comes to things like beans, root veg, brassicas, salad and herbs, you really don't need a vast space to provide two people with some fresh (or home-preserved) veg every day, all year round!

At the weekend, after all the work on the allotment I relaxed by watching the BBC programme "A Farm of the Future" (part of the Natural World series). It was a real eye-opener, I have to say. On the one hand, I've known since the 1980s that oil was going to start running out some time around 2020-30, but nothing I'd read back then had spelt out how that was going to affect agriculture and food production. In terms of impact on the next two generations, it knocks climate change into a cocked hat!

Well, of course I felt motivated to do something, so I Googled around and found out about the Transition movement. Cambridge is already a Transition Town, with an active group since summer last year. Some of their activities are a bit hippyish for my tastes (cringes at thought of singalong evening!), but they've done some more practical things like lobbying the council into looking more seriously into the allotment situation. It probably helps that Cambridge is already quite progressive in this area, but that's no excuse to rest on our laurels!

So, I've volunteered to help with compiling the monthly email bulletin. It's an area where I have expertise, and hopefully I can get away without wearing any rainbow-striped ethnic knitwear ;)