Lady: 'Do you garden?'
Stella: 'Yes, I love gardening.'
Lady: 'And do you have your own garden?
Stella: 'I do.'
Lady: 'Is it large?'
Stella: 'Oh, about fifteen by twenty.'
Lady: (looking impressed) 'Acres?'
Stella: 'Erm, no. Feet.'
Lady: (triumphantly) 'Ah, then you don't garden!'
I'd failed to appreciate the subtle nuance in her use of the verb 'to garden', which implies the management of rolling acres and, no doubt, teams of fore-lock tugging under-gardeners and I'd confused it with my love of 'gardening' in my tiny back yard.
If you are passionate about your garden then size really doesn't matter. If all you have is a balcony, a patio or a few pots on a windowsill you can still be a crafty gardener and make something for or from your garden.
If you want to try growing fresh peas but all you have is a pot on a patio you could make a crafty plant support from willow, hazel or any other long slender rods woven around with something finer and more flexible. This was a project that didn't make it into the book 'Practical Basketry Techniques' - the co-author didn't like the shape. I can't imagine why not ... Anyway, that meant I got to keep this one and the sugar snap peas were a delicious addition to summer salads and stirfries.
We made another version for the kindergarten at a local school, as a plant support for the sweet peas the children had sown in a large wooden planter. I made a plaited and twined willow dragonfly to hover on top.
Co-author not overly impressed by this one either (made with hazel pea sticks bought from a car-boot sale) but the children loved it.
Later that summer I noticed that the green willow rods we'd used as uprights had taken root. I've now got a living willow structure - in a pot. Blooming marvellous! And, nothing wasted, the blue and white willow pattern china I'd used as a decorative mulch provided inspiration for another project.
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