Green fingers

One of the things I have wanted for the past 4 years is an Allotment. I am from North East England, so I suppose it runs in my blood. It's one of the lovely things about the NE, people really do embrace the spirit of grow your own, call it the remnants of wartime austerity or just a peculiar regional hobby, people really love it. And I am no exception. 

It's become fashionable to have an Allotment recently, which is both good and bad. Good in the sense that people are growing their own food, getting good fresh produce they nurtured from seed and reducing the amount of food transported. However the negative side, for me anyway, is that it's becoming increasingly hard to find a free spot for your cabbages. Some councils have waiting lists of up to 7 years for the most popular sites. I don't know about you, but as a student, it seems impossible to comprehend the idea that I might still be in the same country, never mind city in 7 years time. 

It is for this reason I have recently invested in a series of windowboxes. I live on the second floor in a south facing flat looking over The Meadows, the big park in the southside of Edinburgh, so it gets plenty of sunshine.

I planted Lettuce, Beetroot and Carrots. They're all poking through now, and I'm very excited. Whilst it's no smallholding or polytunnel, it should provide me with a few delicious meals. I'm a younger, female, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall. Almost.