HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

02-08-2007

Barbara Panvel digs the growing trend for growing your own.

A growing number of people in the West Midlands are growing or buying wholesome food free from fungicide and pesticide sprays.

I visited Dorothy Peart's garden in Balsall Heath, where for years she has grown fruit and vegetables, and was greeted by a lively group of the neighbourhood's children who help and learn from her.

In the front garden was the first of many 'slug pubs' - dishes containing beer in which slugs and snails drown - leaving some of the vegetables for the grower.

Tomatoes, black-currants, Chinese artichokes, beetroot, cabbage, spinach and carrots were growing in the narrow back garden, fertilised by the home-made compost, worm-compost and nettle and comfrey liquid feed in three bins nearby.

Earlier that day the children filled seed trays in a small polytunnel in which they were going to sow lamb's lettuce.

Runner beans and other vegetables were growing in the garden of a neighbour who lets Dorothy use the land and takes a share of the vegetables.

To get staples such as wheat and potatoes, Dorothy advocates building links with local farmers who can get a fair price by selling direct and reduce the charge to those who offer some weekend work.