"Might I," quavered Mary, "might I have a bit of earth?"
Image of vegetable sculptures author's own
- from The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
The spoils of Capital Growth are beginning to be enjoyed: there's something basic, fundamental and pleasurable about a recent crop of pumpkins growing happily on the banks of the Lee canal. The prospect of kids snacking on fresh fruit and vegetables in Finsbury Park that were grown in the same park is also heart-warming. And the pleasing potential for salad to spring forth from the freshly dug earth of an unused car park in Tottenham just sums up how starved of green stuff we are in London.
Not only are north Londoners benefiting from fresh, locally grown produce, there is a lot of love in the scheme too. Disused land turned back into fruitful gardens and allotments mean the wannabe gardeners who long for more than a window box can have their bit of earth; waiting lists for allotments have never been longer and the sensible matching of converting neglected wasteland into lovingly tended plots by keen, enthusiastic gardeners is perfect. And as we know from The Secret Garden "Where, you tend a rose, my lad, A thistle cannot grow."