At an acre of what my farmer friend called, politely, ‘marginal’ land, my garden is a dream come true and be careful what you wish for’ in equal measures. A remnant of common land, it had never been gardened or farmed before I took it on, making it fantastically diverse in plants, wildlife and fungi, but challenging to grow on. After a lifetime of small suburban gardens and allotments and dreaming of more space, I set to it with enthusiasm when I arrived here nine years ago, but found that all my years of previous experience had not equipped me to deal with a plot like this. It has been a steep learning curve!
The soil is strongly alkaline, heavy clay and full of rocks. A soil test showed that…
