In honour of Go Green Week, we've handed the climate blog over to colleagues to share what they are doing in their own lives to make a difference.
Today Andy Waters from our Midlands office shares what he loves about growing his own veg...
In silence a small brown bag is exchanged for a white tin. The illicit deal is done: a sponge cake for a handful of runner beans and two beetroot.
Alright, I confess. I’ve been swapping my home-grown veggies for baked treats and even a bottle of sherry and a cute poodle, on loan!
The journey to this point started four years ago when I moved into my little Georgian home.
The previous owner, my grandmother, left a wonderful 64-year legacy: a cottage garden and floral firework display of lupins, roses, foxgloves and snowdrops.
But vegetables were needed. So, a few flowers were ‘translocated’ a couple of yards, a small plot was dug (around the size of a large car) with local Hereford cattle muck added, and old guttering and an ancient water tank exploited to provide water from the outhouse roof.
Radish and lettuce were scattered between carnations, runner beans poked below the jasmine trellis, shallots nestled by the roses and potatoes shoved into an old bucket. And guess what? It worked!
Along with trips to the local butcher for meat and my friend’s farm shop for bread, many of my summer meals are now packed with my own fresh, doorstep grub.
For me it’s about pollen-drenched bumblebees squeezing into broad bean flowers, little Louis and Jasper collecting slugs and proudly presenting bowls of steaming, buttery new potatoes to visitors.
It’s about watching my parents plucking and eating peas, like sweets, straight from the pod and handing newspaper-wrapped parcels of flowers and vegetables to friends.
I’ve got the bug to take further small steps on the ‘green’ ladder. Now and again I cycle the 20 miles home from work, my heating’s off or at 12 C and I’m choosing more food with a Warwickshire label and meat-free meals.
I’m enjoying more relaxed and less distracted time, exchanging stories and memories with people, giving not always expecting – being more mindful.
So, will you join me this Spring? Pop some spring onions among your flowers; bung some French beans in an old tub; grow some English thyme in your office window box! Even better, get youngsters to do it with you.
You’ll be doing a tiny bit for your environment and I bet you harvest far more than you sow.
Andy’s tips to being a tiny bit greener this Spring:
A few seeds produce a lot of veg. Don’t go mad - start with a couple of runner beans, six new potatoes, two or three herbs...;
Collect water from your roof and reuse washing up water – don’t water unless you really have to;
Lots of people have too many veggies at times so swap and trade. Could you grow beans and exchange them for fruit?
Ask for advice – I bet your colleague or friends are dying to pass on seeds, tools and help;
And celebrate!! Invite friends and neighbours around for a home-grown meal – even if it’s a sprinkling of parsley - and get youngsters planting, harvesting and cooking.
Do you grow your own veg or source it from a local farm? Please do share what you love most about buying local.