‘Pure plant food..’

10 September 2024

There’s so much of my dad in me.

Throughout his life he was a passionate gardener.

No-one could create a tilth with a rake like dad.

Cutting through well-rotted manure or compost he’d always exclaim ‘Pure plant food’ ‘Like cake’ or ‘You could eat that with custard ‘. Mum never was a confident cook.

Even during those dark days when his advanced dementia had taken control and his balance had gone, his gardening drive continued and he’d want to help.

We compromised with seated hoeing. He couldn’t remember to stay seated, would rise .. and fall.

Even when he had tools removed he attempted to help us by poking the soil surface with his walking stick in the manner of using a hoe.

The cycle of the season turns and there is the satisfaction that all that time composting grass and weeds and cardboard and paper and kitchen waste has been productive.

Dad had a compost heap behind the shed onto which everything was thrown.

Gardeners have always known intuitively how valuable compost is to gardening. Now we make it in a series of wood pallet bins and apply it to the undug soil as a mulch.

Here I am, turning out our compost bins onto the beds in readiness for spreading.

‘Pure plant food’ I’m saying. ‘Like cake’.