That corner of the garden

Making cakes

We all have that corner of the garden. The one that is neglected or not thought about. It is pretty much left to its own devices, muddling along growing this and that. Once in a while it gets a clean up but for the most part it is just there. A place where a blind eye is turned. We of course have such a corner. It is hidden behind a fence and a gate where wisteria grows at a maddening pace, engulfing everything in its path. Along side all of this grows self seeded fennel. For a brief time there is a moment of pretty when the blue of wisteria flowers along side the yellow of the fennel. It looks picturesque. The clothes line is hidden here, along with the various recycling bins, abandoned BBQ’s. It is the place where abandon plants go to die. There is the garden shed that holds the honey boxes and of course the compost bins.

These compost bins were purchased when we first brought the house about 10 years ago. They are the black kind that look like they should be extras on Doctor Who. Our knowledge of gardening was limited but we had enough awareness from our parent’s gardens to know that a compost bin was needed. So we duly brought what we thought was right. It was not and for the last ten years we have struggled along. Disposing compostable material in said bins where we create compost with little success. The remaining bulk of what is compostable from the garden that cannot fit into the bins is piled high in a corner of the garden. Another spot where one does not look to often. I have had flickers of attempts to create something that works more successfully but we are limited in space and I think perhaps the most frustrating thing is that we live on a slop, so flat space to create that dream of a dream compost are limited. We make do with what we have. We plug openings that pop open when not asked to with bricks to stop dogs from investigating. Lids are held down with bits of wood. There is no wonderful and wise trash heap here. (Fraggle rock reference).

Last year I had the luck to hear the Land Gardeners talk at the Marlborough Garden festival. Here they did a work shop where they spoke of the merits of good soil, of microbes, of climate change and shared stories of the hard work and research that they have undertaken over the years to make their magical climate compost. I was hooked. I learnt that what is in our soil is our food which is in us. Nutritious plants that feed us need nutritious soil to feed them. Looking at it from the perspective of a bee keeper I realised that surely this should impact on the well being of my bees as well. As the talk got underway there was the question of do you compost and I was too embarrassed to say yes when I thought of my sad little bins at home, then I was further embarrassed when I realised that I was one of the few that didn’t raise their hand (yay that so many people are proud of their compost piles). It made me more determined to sort myself out in this regard.

Months passed. My notes that I scribbled at the workshop at the time make very little sense so I purchased their book “Soil to Table” to learn how I could make my own wonderful climate compost or compost cake. I hope this cake will become an alternative to my very confused current composting system. I spent an afternoon or two tidying up the space where we never look under the supervision of Airedales who very diligently stood and just stared (Eos) with a “what the what?”look on her face while the other one stood behind the shrubs along the fence line crying, wanting to go play with the puppy that has moved in next door (Atlas). Scattered pots were ordered. Rubbished moved away. Wisteria clipped back. A scene was created for the creation of the mighty compost cake.

Sunday came and after a quick re read of my instructions, I stuck bamboo canes in the soil to mark the foundations of my cake. I hustled round the garden to collect my ingredients to layer up, feeling happy that what I was creating kinda looked like what was in the book. This is always a satisfying moment. The day unfolded, the mound grew and then like all things that are planned, I got asked to do something else. The cake building was abandoned as the remains of the day moved in another direction. I write now days later with a half made cake in my backyard, checking the weather forecast and the diary for the time when I can return to my compost cake making. It is of course a to be continued…

For more on the Land Gardeners check out the online course via Creative Academy.