Introducing our correspondent
I was brought up in rural West Wales. My home was sandwiched between two livestock farms: one was 'modern', for those days, with tractors and a milking parlour; the other was quite old fashioned and used Welsh cobs to haul and cart. I liked the traditional version best but loved the house dog, a magnificent dark sable rough collie, who resided in style in the “mod” one. Against my parents’ wishes I spent every moment I could in the farm yards and it no doubt accounts for my enthusiasm for farm animals and the countryside but particularly for my lifelong love of Collie dogs and Cobs!
I guess I would have liked to be a farmer but it was not a viable option for a female in those days and I ended up pursuing an academic career in Oxfordshire where for the last 40 years, my husband and I have had a 5 acre 'hobby' farm with Welsh ponies, collie dogs and various breeds of sheep and poultry. Rare breeds have figured prominently. We have an official holding number, farm organically, plant trees and shrubs, encourage wildlife and try to be as self-sufficient as possible. It has been an interesting career compromise!
I am now retired. My other hobbies are reading, gardening, leather work, Australian wine, pilates and golf. I also spend a lot of time with grandchildren and their young friends encouraging them to appreciate the pleasures that animals and country living can bring. Anthea Rogers
Anthea writes:
Over the years, once the Christmas decorations came down it was time to think about seed buying for the next season.
This has always been a time of optimism and anticipation… luscious vegetables for consumption, some enchanting flowers to enhance the borders and the prospect of some new varieties to consolidate our enthusiasm for gardening. In the past, the decision-making was always fairly simple. You decided on the supplier that you thought gave value for money, went through the catalogue deciding on your preferred options, using your diaries to remind you what did well in previous years, and then choosing a few new experimental ones.
This year the decision making process seems much more complex.
The suppliers all have various special offers; free delivery if you order so much, two for the price of one on various species, a half price fruit tree if you order before a certain date…
It is all so bewildering and very difficult to decide which supplier offers the best value. I guess this is what their marketing staff aimed for!
Another option is should all the seeds be organically grown? Does the organic label justify the additional price?
Then there’s the on-line option that offers further bargains, increased varieties and extended gardening tips. And in addition there is another option. Do we need to buy seeds at all? Should we go for plugs and save all the hassle? Get them delivered in the spring ready to plant out…
So many options! I have been reminiscing how this compares with my childhood of 60 years ago. My father was a passionate and competent gardener and seed catalogues did arrive in the post-Christmas period, but they were not the grand colourful examples they are now. He did sit down and peruse them with the same anticipation that I have, but very few items were ordered through the post. Most of his seeds were saved from the previous year or came via complicated swaps made with other enthusiastic gardening friends. I can recall the array of peas, beans, potatoes that were planted and if the variety proved successful the careful drying and preservation of these for the following year when they would be dispersed to friends.
So why have things changed so? Do we all have so much surplus income that seed-saving is no longer necessary? Or is the pressure of modern life such that we cannot find the time to preserve seed from year to year? Or do we just not have the appropriate gardening friends?
I do not know the answer, but meanwhile we will send off our order full of the optimism that gardening catalogues never fail to arouse although I already know that very few of the veggies will have the perfect shapes promised. They will, however, taste so much better than the supermarket option and so will justify the effort involved. Roll on the Spring!
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