I know! Let's grow vegetables! ...

I'm fortunate to live in a lovely house in the middle of a village in rural Northamptonshire. I'm a bit of an anomoly in the village as I travel a lot with my work (I'm a Director in a large US based IT company) and I also work from home on a frequent basis, when I'm not travelling. As such, I don't fit into either the 'commuter', or the 'works locally' types that predominate in our village (and most others, come to that!).

My unpredictable schedule also means that its hard to get into a regular pattern for things, so I tend to do things on a more ad-hoc basis. So when I declared to my wife that I wanted to start a vegetable patch (something that really demands a sustained effort and attention over a protracted period), she immediatley pictured an overgrown, unsightly area in the garden with lots of weeds, lots of slugs and snails, and some dried up, untended, miserable looking, nearly dead vegetables.

As luck would have it, we were about to have a new patio laid, just next to the Utility Room, and there was talk of including a flower bed ... A tweak of the design, a word with the Landscaper and 'Hey Presto!' a vegetable patch is born. Job done!

This was a stroke of Genius (although I say it myself), we now have a 'manageable' sized area, capable of growing a variety of things, and located close by the house, surrounded by paving so it's quick and simple to look after. Brilliant! Now I just need to work out how I can look after the plants when I'm away ...

Another flash of inspiration and I have this problem licked, together with another, even trickier one.

Those of you with young children will understand the irrational fear that most children have of eating vegetables. This is a mystery for me (and most parents) because vegetables are brightly coloured (which children like), have a variety of flavours (which children like), they can eat as much of them as they want (which children like) and they are very good for you (which may be the problem!).

I am also very fortunate because my youngest Son (aged 8) loves to do things with his Dad (me!) and what could be a more rewarding experience than nurturing seeds and plants, watching them grow, feeding them, weeding them, picking the beans and peas, pulling the carrots and the cabbages, cutting the cucumbers, courgettes and sweetcorn ... and then eating them together with the Sunday Roast!

So now I have a willing helper, who demands to look after the vegetable patch when I'm away, who helps with the watering and weeding when I'm home (surely its not because he gets to play in the soil!) and is really looking forward to being able to harvest the crop and eat the 'fruits' of our labour (Perhaps I should give up the day job and write books on 'Parenting with Plants'! - or perhaps not!).

We are now days away from our first harvest (I was travelling when we should have planted the first seeds, so these went in a little late!) and we will see if the plan has worked and we witness the cheering spectacle of a small boy demanding more vegetables!

I'll be sure to let you know ...

Best regards,

Nigel.