I’ve recently had some 20 something old house guests stay for a week. Although I shouldn’t generalise, I am starting to think that people of that generation have turned their back on the crass world of convenience and waste. The ones I know from work are the same and my faith in the future of our planet now rests with them.
A great example of this good for the planet living is Alys Fowler. She started out doing some appearances on BBC’s Gardeners World last year and this March her own series, The Edible Garden, hits our screens. Alys is a great one for recycling waste and turning it into something useful, and in this series she taps into our desire to grow our own and make our own. Her book, The Thrifty Gardener: How to create a stylish garden for next to nothing published by Kyle Cathie last year also touches on this although The Edible Garden has a tie in book of its own (BBC Books).
Alys’ generation recycle as a matter of course, and not because it makes them feel good, or adds another tick to their “save the planet” to do list. They darn socks instead of throwing them out, they knit, and they make all sorts of foodstuffs from scratch: They bake bread, they make jam, they make their own stock. And, if Alys has her way, they may even start to grow some of their own food no matter how small their outside space is. I have to respect their efforts and celebrate that perhaps one day parents might even return to making their own baby food and resist convenience toddler meals, for instance.
I, like many people, have grown wary and fed up with picture perfect vegetables shrink wrapped in plastic, possibly flown to my country from many miles away. Nobody seems to be listening though, so the next step is to grow my own vegetables. Last year I had some success with beetroot, potatoes, herbs and carrots. This year I’ll try more. I’m not doing it to save the planet, I just want me and my kids to experience the simple pleasure of growing and eating our own food, and Alys is showing me the way. She has taken gardening away from the blue rinse and/or retired brigade and made gardening cool and I thank her for that.
For more information about Alys, visit http://www.deborahmckenna.com/client-full-bio.aspx?ID=87&Name=Alys-Fowler
