Greetings from the Fens!

[anarchistinslippers]

Hello, all. My name is Thom and I live with my beloved Emily just outside Ely.

We do our best to only buy second hand stuff from charity shops (due to ethics as much as our financial situation - we're both on wages rather than salaries!) and support independent businesses (Though we do rely on T***o for fuel (booo!!!). We cook most of our meals from scratch and enjoy making bread and so on whenever we can.

Emily's Dad is a true Fenlander, having grown up on a smallholding he grows a hell of a lot of fruit and veg each year. The man is an absolute inspiration. I, being a mere ignorant townie (originally from Chesterton and have done quite a lot of moving around the south-east in me time), am looking to follow in his footsteps and not only help him on his allotment but by growing some of my own stuff this year.

Emily and I have recently-ish moved in together (since Nov) down the road from Emily's Dad and have a tiny garden (more a strip of earth, really) with a lot of patio (yeuch! but we're renting, so what can you do?) and today I finally got off my arse and started by potting some aubergine and basil seeds. Waiting for the weather to warm up a tad so I can do some more things. I'm looking to grow some salad things too (rocket, cucumber, tomatoes etc) as well as some fruit from one of those half grown plants we got a couple of weeks ago.

Ideally, we would like to depend on nobody but ourselves, have our own place away from everyone and never do 'proper' work again (in other words, the whole Tom and Barbara thing - Great show, we both love it) but I'm not entirely sure that's on the cards!

Anyway, hope you're all well. Looking forward to chinwags with you all!

T & E

[Clara]

Hi...sounds like you'll be doing a lot of container gardening then! A lot is possible in a small space though so don't despair. My only experience has been to grow spuds in a bin and that worked quite well, I'm sure there are plenty of other urban ishers round here who could give you more ideas.

Welcome and good luck, Clara

[lsm1066]

Hi and welcome from further up the Fens in South Lincs. If your garden's truly tiny, have a think about growing things on different levels. It's amazing how much you can fit into a relatively small space if you plan it right.

Enjoy!
Lynne

[anarchistinslippers]

Cheers you two! Been thinking about investing in one of those plastic greenhouse thingies. Anyone know if they're worth it?

[sheena]

Hello and a big welcome Thom and Emily.
You will find loads of valuable info and tips on this site and everyone is so helpful.

Don't be put off by only having a small garden, you can grow just about everything in containers, its just the yield that will be on a smaller scale- its all in the planning.
A big to emily's dad.

[jim]

Dear Anarchistinslippers,

Love the user name!

Small gardens needn't limit you. Have you thought of bean sprouts, mini lettuce, and spring onions on windowsills? We do it throughout the winter....... every bit helps!

Love and Peace
Jim

[Millymollymandy]

Hello and welcome from a slob in slippers!

[becks77]

Hello, somewhere on here I've seen a thread on vertical gardening

[red]

welcome

[anarchistinslippers]

Cheers, all. Lots of juicy ideas to get my teeth into..!!

I should explain the user name I guess. Basically, it's due to me being a bit of a domesticated angry young-ish (27, nearly 28) young man. A few years back I went through the mill on just about every level possible and it left me a bit bruised, to say the least. But after finding my feet again (mainly thanks to Emily, it must be said) I've placed them in some warm slippers but still have a healthy dollop of hatred for multinationals, capitalism, racism and that sort of thing. Don't worry though, I'm a very friendly sort of chap really. So basically I'm like Rik in The Young Ones in that deep down I'm a fairly privledged little oik trying to be tough when I really faint at the sight of blood. Except I don't, but you get the idea. Speaking of which, here's one of my favourite quotes:

Rik: "I'm going to write to my MP!!"
Neil: "You haven't got an MP, Rik, you're an anarchist!"

[MuddyWitch]

Welcome to ISH
MW

[JulieSherris]

Hello!

[Mr and Mrs luvpie]

Hi from just up the road in Newmarket, If I was anywhere nearer to Ely I'd get my name down on the allotments near the railway station, I'm sure they don't come up very often, but the soil there looks fantastic.

Sarah & Rob

[Millymollymandy]

Cheers, all. Lots of juicy ideas to get my teeth into..!!

I should explain the user name I guess. Basically, it's due to me being a bit of a domesticated angry young-ish (27, nearly 28) young man. A few years back I went through the mill on just about every level possible and it left me a bit bruised, to say the least. But after finding my feet again (mainly thanks to Emily, it must be said) I've placed them in some warm slippers but still have a healthy dollop of hatred for multinationals, capitalism, racism and that sort of thing. Don't worry though, I'm a very friendly sort of chap really. So basically I'm like Rik in The Young Ones in that deep down I'm a fairly privledged little oik trying to be tough when I really faint at the sight of blood. Except I don't, but you get the idea. Speaking of which, here's one of my favourite quotes:

Rik: "I'm going to write to my MP!!"
Neil: "You haven't got an MP, Rik, you're an anarchist!"

[pumpy]

Hi Thom/Emily....Thom; i was an "angry young man", once. Now i'm a doddering ol' fart, thanks,mainly, to my Jackie!!! I grow veg., brew beer, make bread, etc; & we live a"Ish"-life wherever practicle. .....never been so happy & content. Good luck.