Growing and changing with the times

Do you remember me suggesting in those heady, early days of lockdown that we all grow things?

I then revealed that I myself was growing things on my window sill. Well it turned out I wasn’t – I was merely giving houseroom to a collection of old pots filled with stony soil. All except one stray bean which proceeded to take over the kitchen, winding its way around the window catch and generally making a nuisance of itself. 

I did start off in a very half-cocked way, to be fair. I found a bunch of last year’s seeds in a drawer and planted them in garden dirt, being unable to source any proper compost online. But besides the bean – which obviously didn’t receive the memo – nothing else happened whatsoever. Zilch. Nada.

I then managed to order some new seeds over the internet and a couple of small packets arrived. So I started again, excitedly planting this season’s courgettes and tomatoes in place of last year’s cast-offs. And still nothing happened. 

My frustration with my vegetable crop began to mirror my impatience with the lockdown. Green shoots signal change, growth and hope for the future – but since my pots were producing none of the above they became a metaphor for our own stalled situation. And I began to despair of anything ever changing, either horticulturally or pathogenically.

You’ll have seen the picture at the top of this post so you’ll know where this is going. I’ve finally managed to produce a courgette and perhaps a tomato as well. And according to the radio they’re now talking about exit strategies and lockdown easing.

There IS light at the end of this tunnel and there WILL be veg in the garden. It’s official.