Many things but this is the most important – read on.

I’ve been trying to keep up with the growth on my allotment and it isn’t an easy task even though I love that place. I unlock the gate, swing it open and take a deep breath. I’m in my happy place.

I say ‘hello old friend’, and step into my sanctuary.

This is how every visit starts. Then I take a slow walk around, taking in what’s new, what’s working, what’s gone wrong and what needs urgent attention. Sometimes, that urgent attention matches my plans for that day. Sometimes but not always. There is always something new which I hadn’t noticed last visit and at this time of year, there is always something ready, waiting for me to harvest it.

I recently did a video of a tour around my allotment, which I put on my YouTube channel. I’ll include it here so you can see the place I’m so passionate about and feel free to subscribe while you’re there!

I’ve got sunflowers this year and I couldn’t be happier about them! I love those gorgeous, happy looking flowers and as far as I’m concerned, you can’t have enough of them in a garden or on an allotment plot.

I’ve been trying to pay more attention to what the plot is trying to tell me. For example, I’ve got a polytunnel there which is in a shady space. I know the cover has a few holes in it and I know it isn’t in the ideal spot. I use it for my garlic to grow as it’s one crop that is prone to rotting when the weather gets very cold and damp. This summer however, I gave tomatoes another try – I’m persistent if nothing else. I also have a polytunnel in the garden though and there, I’m growing tomatoes, cucumber, chillies and trying a few other things. What is causing that difference? I explain that in this video:

And all of this leads me to what the allotment has really taught me over the years: Gratitude.

I walk around with my basket and I get to pick peas, runner beans, herbs, french beans, beetroot, celery, blueberries, strawberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants, raspberries, chard, courgettes, spring onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, onions, potatoes, flowers. Soon I’ll be able to add parsnips, kale, leeks, apples, kohl rabi, cabbages and various squashes including pumpkins to that list. Real food.

Real food. No GMO, no half mushy rubbish because it was picked too early and frozen before being left to rot on a supermarket shelf. No pesticides or herbicides. No chemicals at all.

Then I get to leave with a full basket and use it to feed my family, knowing that my hard work has paid off. That makes me so happy and incredibly grateful. Grateful for each seed that has germinated. Grateful for living in a part of the country where I haven’t had to worry about the weather. Grateful for the space to grow and still having the ability to work that little bit of land. Grateful for the gardening knowledge I always forget I have which has come from 14 years of growing our own fruit and veg.

Grateful we have food. We have enough and some to share. How many people can say that? I’m so grateful that we can eat our own food, in a house and have beds to go to every night.

Gratitude, in huge big soil-dusted bucketfuls.

And it all starts with unlocking the gate, swinging it open and saying those words:

‘Hello old friend.’