Has gardening changed, or have you?

[HeyWayne]

I often hear/read about gardening/garden trends - how allotmenteering is a "trend" at the moment, but does it really change? Fundamentally. Have the people who use allotments changed so much?

Having not been gardening very long myself - only really since I took on my plot two years ago, I'm not sure if gardening has changed all that much in during that time.

Do things really change drastically? Basic principles must surely be fairly steadfast, even tools mustn't change greatly other than materials etc?

Not quite sure where I'm going with this - just thinking aloud whilst munching a sandwich.

I guess it comes back to the title of the thread - has gardening changed in your gardening "lifetime", or has gardening changed you?

Poor attempt at a serious question I know, but it's the best I've got.

[amandaandherveg]

Hmmm.... interesting.

When I was very young I used to watch/help my Grandad gardening. He was a Farm Worker and kept a lovely garden - flowers/lawn at the front, drying green and shed at the back and a lovely big veg patch at the side.

My interest in gardening was rekindled after I sold my business nd bought our current house as a renovation project.

I find myself thinking back to what Grandad did - layout, what to grow, etc. So not really sure if this answers your questions but I find myself following Grandad's basic principles but with the back up and guidance of the vine. As for the allotments - I have no idea if the current popular interest will pass or continue. For me personally I made the decision three years ago to sell my business and concentrate on homelife, pets, renovating and gardening - I have never been happier or had such wonderful neighbours (I have the time to make relationships). I get so much pleasure in doing things for others and the rewards that it brings. I spent a lifetime thinking that something was missing and I can honesty say that it's just this last few months that that feeling has left me - oh jeez, I'm welling up.

[basketcase]

Aaaaaaah, Amanda...

Interesting question, Wayne. I recently bought a wartime "Make Your Garden Feed You" book. I was amazed at just how little has changed - except for the 'if it moves, squirt it with a chemical!' bit.

I think that 'growing things' has changed little, but that our attitudes to the garden itself (an 'outside room' rather than a place to grow things) and the variety of things available to grow may have changed.

Also, I think that there are more 'gadgets', sprays etc around that cut down a lot of the work. So people who would have been put off by (or couldn't physically manage) very hard labour can garden and it's reaching new groups.

[Mchanen]

Well i've only just started getting into gardening, i'm only 20 so prob a bit of a strange habbit for a young person to have.

I've never really had a hobby/interest in anything so thought i would give it a try myself when my mum started growing stuff- and now i love it, it's something i can do for myself!

[bluemoon]

Twenty odd years ago, when we took on our first lottie, we we're the youngest by about 30 years! We were the only couple and there was only one woman with a plot of her own. The produce grown has changed a lot, back then it was all spuds and runner beans. A chap who gave us a sweet pepper plant on our first day on the plot felt the need to explain what a sweet pepper was, the old boys' opinion was that in growing something so outlandish he was a little weird. They all grew Dahlias so they could take a bunch home to the little woman on a Friday evening so there were flowers in the house over the weekend. The only time Mrs Allotmenteer came to the plot was on a Sunday morning to select the veg for lunch, she'd hurry away again with a shopping bag full and 2 hours later Mr Allotmenteer would go home to eat them. The Allotments were always deserted on a Saturday and Sunday afternoon, Saturday because of Grandstand, Sunday because they fell asleep in their armchairs after the afore mentioned lunch. Only one kept chickens, in a tumbledown shed with a mud-bath outside for a run, the others thought this was a little eccentric of him, but the chickens were the descendants of the same flock of Light Sussex's he'd had since Dig for Victory, so they put up with it and told us to 'keep on the right side of him and he'd see us alright for manure'. When I say LIGHT Sussex though, this is probably an offence under the trade descriptions act, imagine the rain and the peaty, clayey soil we have in this neck of the woods and you'll see why.
We now have plenty of younger people, probably as many women as men with plots of their own and seeing a couple working the plot together is commonplace. A courgette is no longer an immature marrow and greenhouses and sheds are as likely to have come from B&Q as to have had their component parts collected from various skips. Organic is no longer a word only used by 'Jessies'. Having said all that, I learned a lot from those old boys and miss them sometimes.
In between the 'then' and the 'now', we had an influx of the early retired, who were doing it purely to make their savings stretch. They didn't have the old boys' experience or the young people's enthusiasm and didn't tend to stick around for long.
The one thing that hasn't changed is the friendliness and helpfulness and the feeling that however good or bad we are at veg growing, and whatever our age, we're all enjoying the same thing and facing the same problems.

[amandaandherveg]

That's a lovely post bluemoon.

[bluemoon]

I was just thinking the same thing (and agreeing with every word) about yours, Amanda.

[lizzylemon]

In my opinion, yes I think the range of people has for sure changed due to it being 'fashionable' at the moment, but i don't think it's a bad thing. I think that by being fashionable it's reached a wider range of people that might not necessarily have had any thing to do with growing stuff before but because it's in womens mags, on the news, TV or where ever, people are seeing it afresh again and realising it's not just for us country mice either.

My Beloved Gran (Godblessher) thought it very amusing to see it come back into fashion, especially the organic type. She laughed so hard at that - in her day it was the only type as no one could afford fancy chemicals.

I just love the fact more people are getting back into it - the more greenies the better in my opinion. I love the memories it evokes for me and the taste of the food (more memories) and I hope that I'll past it on to my child too. There's something healing in gardening.

[dexterdoglancashire]

You are right Wayne in that "having a lottie" seems to be the "in thing" at the moment, well the last couple of years I think, and probably for the foreseable future.
I don't think that gardening itself changes - in a way, me certainly (sp?), although I have been playing at growing veg for the last few years, still have lots and lots and lots to learn - hence I'm here on the Vine - grapes knowledge and advice are invaluable for everyone wanting to learn about growing veg.
I think it's brill that "growing your own" seems to be a high priority for lots of people, for all the different reasons they may have, and long may it continue, including the Vine.
Bernie

[Alice]

I would second what Bluemoon says Wayne.

I grow in my own garden, so don't know about lotties, but I think peoples attitudes to gardens has changed and they see it as more of a space to live and grow in rather than just a private space round the house to be kept clean and tidy.

Also I think people are more adventurous in what they want to grow and how they want to grow it. Gone are the long straight rows of tatties, cabbage and turnip.

In are the beds of salad, courgettes, corn, garlic and whatever else they like.

Out are the insecticides and pesticides and slug pellets and in are more environmentally friendly methods.

I think every house I know round here grows something. Some people have very good kitchen gardens and some people just one little bed for salads or whatever but it's seen as normal to grow something - not just by a few old boys down the lottie.

So yes, crops might still require the same growing conditions, but gardening has changed in some fundamental way - and I would say for the better.

[allotmentlady]

Interesting post wayne,,,,gardening has made me calmer, made me appreciate what I eat, what I put on our plate. I dont go buying fancy tools, there is no need for it. I enjoy the peace and quiet, I also enjoy the banter and competition. Always learning new things and teaching others what I know.
There is nothing better than being on the lottie at 6am, listening to the birds, saying hello to the old chaps that saunter up, making them a brew, putting some bacon in a pan and making bacon butties, talking about the weather, crops, what were doing next......
I can honestly say that gardening has always been in my blood, I love it.

[HeyWayne]

There is nothing better than being on the lottie at 6am, listening to the birds, saying hello to the old chaps that saunter up, making them a brew, putting some bacon in a pan and making bacon butties, talking about the weather, crops, what were doing next......

Cripey! Where's your plot/ I'll be there in the morning - shall I bring the braan sawse?

[pipscariad]

This is a really interesting thread, I'm really enjoying reading the replies.

When I was knee high to a grasshopper, I spent large amounts of time being the shadow of my greatest friend, Gramp, my Mums father, who was a great gardener*. He used to come and stay with us for most of the summer, and would tend my parents veg plot whilst he was there. I remember with great fondness helping him hoe, chatting away about this and that. My parents, and grandparents, were very 'ahead of their time' in many ways, and organic gardening was the norm for them (they were also vegetarians - as I am now - which was pretty wacky back then - I'm a third generation veggie, and my children are fourth generation ones!).

Once I'd left home I didn't grow anything apart from flowers and herbs for a few years, but then we moved into a lovely rented farmhouse in the Dorset countryside, with a big veg plot, which I tended lovingly as I wasn't working at that point (not for want of trying! Endless temporary posts..). That was 18 years ago (blimey, scary that!), and I fell in love with growing veg all over again and Gramps ghost guided me I'm sure, as I had a really successful plot. Now that I'm lucky enough to have a plot again, it does seem a bit harder, but then the weather conditions on the Welsh coast are more challenging that the gentle Dorset countryside! But I love every minute, and although I'm a very calm person anyway, it really relaxes me.

So, back to the original question, via much nostalgia and waffle, my experience of gardening hasn't changed much, but gardening certainly keeps me grounded, and I hope one day my little 'uns will find the same thing.

*Just must recount quite a nice little story from him re how gardening kept him young. Gramp's veg plot had a footpath that ran alongside, and every day an old chap used to walk along the path but apart from 'Hello', never said much. Then one day, whilst Gramp was busy digging, the old chap stopped and leant against the wall. "You won't be doing that when you're my age", he says to Gramp. "How old are you?, asks Gramp, "82", replies old chap. "Ah. I'm 86", replies Gramp. Chap never spoke to him at all after that!! So, keep gardening and it'll put life in your years as well as add years to your life

[Two_Sheds]

I think peoples attitudes to gardens has changed and they see it as more of a space to live and grow in

Perhaps in your bit of the world Alice.

In most places, a garden is a thing to be paved over for keeping the 2 or 3 vehicles nice and clean, and off the road.

[Two_Sheds]

one thing that has changed in my lifetime is the use of chemicals. ...Anything that flew, crawled or hopped into the garden was To Be Exterminated

I am glad that is changing. I grow food for the birds & bees (and butterflies) as well as food for the table.
I have to tolerate the odd nettle or willowherb if I want some Red Admirals and Hummingbird Hawkmoths.
I have to have some aphids if I also want ladybirds.