Up the Garden Path
My interest in gardening probably began at the age of five, as my father showed me around our first garden. The well established garden of an RAF house. I was amazed that certain plants could actually be eaten – Rhubarb and garden mint. And lavender could be used to make ‘lavender bags’.
I then began noticing the plants commonly planted in RAF gardens, such as Flowering Currant, Peony, Privet hedges, wallflowers and Antirrhinums.
It seems that gardening has been something of a family tradition. No doubt a necessity for my country ancestors with access to a garden, and for Stephen Harvey, a Market Gardeners carter it was a means of income, with other members of the family working as Grocers, garden produce probably came in useful too.
Grandfather Charles Harvey was a keen gardener, and during the war Grandfather William Sanderson kept an allotment.
As soon as my parents had any garden, they began growing produce too, with ideas of becoming semi self sufficient.
To be continued…