“... the soil, preserving it is crucial….. it’s imperative that you improve the soil …. ” Edward: Idealist/Eco-Warrior. 2013 Practical gardeners and Idealists share similarities in terms of the value they place on the land. Their approach to construction and practice is underpinned by particular knowledge systems that focus on preparing, replenishing and improving the quality of the soil. Their approaches to construction are mediated through different knowledge systems which impacts on their methods, plot aesthetics and designs.
For Practical gardeners, intergenerational connections to the land and the desire to reinvigorate ‘traditional methods’ of cultivation guide their approach to plot construction, development and design (See chapter 5 for a detailed analysis of cultivation practices). A considerable amount of time is spent preparing and planning the plot to facilitate, enhance and maximise cultivation and they take into account the resources required, and pre-empt future cultivation. Construction begins by vigorously digging, aerating and preparing the soil using a range of age-old cultivation techniques (Figs. 71 a,b,c,72), by adding a range of farmyard and green manures and nitrogen fixing plants which they often procure in advance. Their plots are designed to maximise cultivation using lazy-beds and drills, and they add purpose built compost bins, water harvesting systems, sheds and poly-tunnels but which are integrated purely for their functional use (Figs. 71-74). They see the allotment as functional for the purpose of growing food and self-provision, and they
151 maintain the ‘traditional’ allotment aesthetic by omitting the inclusion of a social space (Figs. 71-72). Bill, a Practical gardener explicates:
“ ... the very first thing you have to do is prepare the soil, that’s the most important thing.
If you don’t’ get that right, you won’t be successful, nothing will grow properly. You’ll have forked carrots and all sorts of problems. You need to dig it and remove the stones ... The soil has to be rich ... so you have to prepare it before you do anything ... I dug it all up, the entire plot. I got rid of every single weed, every stone I came across, I took it out...and I dug in a tonne of manure to get it ready to sow. That was the first thing...then you have to leave it for a while ...then I dug it again, then I put in a grass path there at the edge … then I planted all the veg .... . But you need to know what you’re doing too because you have to rotate the veg next year. You can’t grow the same thing in the same place twice ... I put that compost bin in there too ... but the first thing I did was prepare the ground. You have to do that, otherwise it’s a waste of time. I do have my little plastic chair there [at the fence], ... I put that table there attached to the fence ... it folds down against the fence so it’s not in the way. .. the whole plot is for growing veg ” Bill, Practical Gardener: 2013
Figure 71 (a,b,c). Constructing functional and productive spaces
Figure 72. Lazy Beds and Drills and Traditional cultivation techniques
152 Figure 73.Functional Space Figure 74 (a & b). Water harvesting systems
Whilst the majority of Practical gardeners employ ‘traditional’ methods and cultivation techniques some Practical gardeners attempt to integrate ‘contemporary’ methods others employ and advocate (see chapter 7). However, their ‘agrarian habitus’ influences their approach to construction and as a result, they tend to revert back to ‘traditional’ methods to (re)construct a sense of belonging and a sense of attachment to the place. Margaret a Practical gardener explicates:
“ Well I decided to use the methods my parents used, so I made up a lazy bed there and started with that, and I made up a compost bin and I got going and sowed my seeds … but I did try the raised beds that everyone is using but I just couldn’t do it. I prefer the drills, the old ways are best, so I got rid of it and just used the old ways. They work best for me. There’s more room to grow instead of putting in loads of paths and that. That’s what you end up with, with those boxes. But doing it the way my parents did was just something natural. I couldn’t do it any other way. That’s what came naturally to me”
Margaret. Practical Gardener, 2012 Whilst Idealists share similarities with Practical Gardeners, their approach to construction is underpinned by wider ecological and environmental concerns which influences their approach to construction, aesthetics and layouts and reflects their knowledge, ideologies and worldviews. Their focus is on conserving and restoring the soils’ micro-eco-system, and ‘closing the nutrient cycle’ (McClintock, 2010), which they achieve through soil preservation and restoration. However, their principles of practices means that they differ from Practical gardeners’ because they employ low levels of soil intervention. Rather, they take a random, unstructured and naturalistic approach to their plot which generally evolves over time, which creates a particular aesthetic that challenges the ‘traditional’
153 allotment aesthetic and ‘contemporary’ allotment design (Fig, 75 c & d). As Eugene comments explain:
“... the soil ... preserving it is crucial. There’s a natural membrane under the soil which you have to protect. That contains all the natural bacteria plants need. You don’t want to disturb that. If you break that, the root systems can’t get the nutrients they need. .... you have to be careful and know what you’re doing. You see a lot of people digging the hell out of the earth ... whereas there’s really no need ....If you do dig like that you’re destroying the whole molecular structure of the soil. It’s important to maintain that.... [I]
didn’t really dig it like others here... [I] just turned the surface lightly where I needed to, and added in manure to feed it” Eugene. Idealist. 2013 Seamus, a Practical Gardener, explains the differences taken by his fellow plot-holder (an Idealist) when he constructed his plot:
“When I got my plot it was up to my waist in weeds and I spent absolutely ages with my scythe clearing it, digging it and getting it ready, digging in manure, and putting in 7:6:17.
It’s a fertiliser we would’ve used at home. Basically its nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. It’s what you need for leafy growth and cell formation. I’m from a farming background and that’s what we’d do. But he [Idealist] didn’t dig like me ... Did you see what he’s done? ... he has a no dig policy. He didn’t dig. He grew his potatoes on straw [laughs]. The entire plot was covered in straw. He just got a load of … mushroom compost, … and covered the entire plot with it, … and he literally fired the potatoes in all over the place. Then he covered it with the compost again and then covered the entire thing with straw. You can see the wheat coming up there in-between, .. It’s not the normal thing you’d expect ... it’s not like the other plots here... It looks a bit wild, but it works.
It’s just as productive as mine” Seamus. Practical Gardener, 2013 Like all gardeners, Idealists integrate sheds, compost bins and water harvesting systems to facilitate and enhance cultivation. Their principles of practice become infused in the landscape, evidenced in the way they construct their sheds entirely from re-used urban waste (Figs. 75). Like Practical gardeners, Idealists construct their plots to maximise cultivation and display their knowledge and organic identities (For a detailed analysis on identity construction see chapter 8) but differ in that they integrate habitats for wildlife, and take into account specific plant species to generate a higher biodiversity metric (Figs.
75 b & c).Their desire to grow nutritious, chemical free foods and educate others about environmental, ecological and sustainable development objectives means that like Practical gardeners, they too see the landscape as functional and omit the inclusion of a social space.
154 Both sets of gardeners’ motivations are underpinned by a desire to disseminate “lay knowledge’s of, and connections to nature” (Bhatti & Church, 2001:366), practice and the land, which fulfils their principles and motivations for investing in UA.
“That’s why the organic guys do it because they have the knowledge and are interested in using techniques that complement the soil, … that benefit the food grown and the soil.
This is why some of the plots appear hap-hazard or wild looking when in fact, they’re planted in such a way as to maximise growth and to allow nature do what it does best without interfering ... All you need is the know-how, and this is why allotments are look at this’. So I said ‘ok, I’ll take a look and help you start off and give you a few plants to get you going’. … Then he came in one day and said, “ x there [plot-holder] gave me cabbage plants but they seem to be growing too tall”. And I said I’d go and take a look.
So I went over and I said “yes, that’s because they’re Brussels sprouts” [laughs]. So for fella’s like me, you get a lot of people coming along and asking you for advice which I don’t mind giving them... I was lucky, because I learnt it since I was that height. . ... but that’s the one thing about the allotments, you can teach people...., spread the knowledge, and teach them how to grow food”. William. Practical Gardener: 2013
Despite their varying approaches to construction, their aesthetics, plot layouts and designs, both sets of gardeners are keen to restore specific values and principles which they believe both material culture and technological developments in agriculture have replaced. The allotment provides an invaluable opportunity to construct a landscape where they can employ ‘organic’ and ‘traditional’ principles and techniques, and they both see the allotment as an important resource in the city where particular principles and values can be (re)generated and restored. However, their approach to construction and the future development and design of their plots like others, represents an explicit attempt to (re)generate a sense of community and belonging and a sense of ownership and attachment to the place (Figs. 75). Margaret, an elderly Practical gardener explains:
“I made that [poly-tunnel] myself ... the entire thing basically. The only thing I didn’t do was drive the posts into the ground. I did the rest, the whole lot myself. Everything is recycled out of skips . ….the poles are old Ariel poles and the wood is recycled ....it’s all out of skips. Years ago we knew where everything came from. We were resourceful. I suppose we grew up in a time where things weren’t like today, things weren’t plentiful
155 and you were conscious of what you did with things. You didn’t waste things and I suppose that stays with you…..People waste too much today. I am conscious of that, ... . I like to know really where things come from. ... I really enjoyed doing it because it was done on the cheap... If a woman my age can do it, it might make people more conscious and more resourceful” Margaret, Practical Gardener, 2012
Figure 75 (a,b,c,d). Re-using urban waste
Figure 76 (a,b,c,d).Biodiversity, displaying identity, values and ideologies
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