Grow Your Own

Now it may be that 20 years later my memories of grow your own are a botched attempt by Jim Morrison (yes that was his real name) to grow cannabis at the age of 16 - under lights of course 60 watt bulbs to be precise but this is not what I am on about.

I have returned to Ghana with a vigour to do the River Cottage thing, not start a farm per se or to start a campaign to free the chickens of the world - although I totally behind the chicken out campaign and applaud free range farmers.

I am talking of the ten small pots and one window sill planter full of .....well muck. It seems that plants like muck. My wife bought me Mark Diacono's Veg Patch book and well I am inspired. Muck is not muck anymore it is soil and I am looking for a good tilth. Tilth is not a word I had heard before Mr Diacono brought it to me. This is not however about growing a horticultural vocabulary this is about the ten contenders sat in small pots in our lounge.

Chives, Mint, Parsely, Rocket, Lettuce, Spinach, Basil, Rosemary, Pot Marigold.........no these are not potential names for some 'A' listers child although Mint Beckham does have a certain ring to it - the y are in fact the seeds which I know hope are starting to germinate as I type.

This is effectively like reality TV but without prizes and no audience vote. You place a seed which seems unfeasibly small in to an equally small depression in your prime tilth, cover it and hope. Who will be first to germinate?