The best manure is the farmer’s boot

By Victoria Plum

It took me a while to understand the saying “the best manure is the farmer’s boot”.

Does this mean he has been in the pigpen and the adherent properties of excrement to the rubber of his boots allow him to quietly spread manure on his fields? Well no, of course not.

What it means (and I will explain just in case it’s not obvious to you as it wasn’t obvious to me) is that the most important task in being a farmer (or a gardener) is to know what is happening on the land, and then take appropriate action as soon as possible, using intuition and experience to assess the state of the soil, crops and animals, and therefore ensuring the best outcome.

With the current situation I certainly have been able to do this on my small plot by just keeping an eye on everything. I think I have got more enjoyment from it, too.

It is impossible to quantify the fantastic growth of all I see, but after much-needed rain this week everything seems to have grown overnight.

I have been tempted to sit outside with my camera just to record the amazing hasty changes in some plants. I have an aloe, Norfolk-grown and hardy (so far), which had a flower last year, and is now throwing up a flower spike. Could four inches a day be an exaggeration?

I have never been any good at staggered sowing or planning floral succession in the garden, and tend to rely (as Beth Chatto used to amplify) on foliage for interest.

I think it was Barry Gayton, (the Reepham & District Gardening Club visited his Desert World Gardens at Brandon some years ago) who said the same thing: the leaves and plant patterns are there all year, or all season, yet the flowers for only a short time. So if I get any flowers at all, I count them as a bonus.

Keep in touch with the gardening club with an online meeting on Tuesday 16 June. Same time as usual, but at your house. For more details click HERE.

Photos: Tina Sutton