Lucia's veggie patch

Lucia has decided to make a vegetable patch in the garden. Her job as an Occupational Therapist at our local Psychiatric hospital includes thinking up activities to get the patients involved in and she decided to make two gardens to grow vegetables in. The patients love to spend their time digging and planting and a bonus is the fine weather we've been having. I mentioned to Mum that Lucia and Aniello were in our garden at 8am this morning preparing the soil for planting the vegetable seeds she bought from our local garden centre. Mum told me a story about her Welsh Grandmother going out into the lane in front of her house whenever horses passed to collect any droppings they left behind. This was during the war when food was scarce and growing your own fruit and veg was common practice. Great Gran used the manure on her rhubarb plants which were grown in upside down buckets. Mum's Uncle Eric used to cycle the 12 miles from Colwyn Bay to Chwefford and back every Sunday to help Great Gran in her garden. I just love these little stories from the past. It puts flesh and blood on the bones of my ancestors and makes Mum happy sharing her memories. I wish Lucia every success in her cultivation and look forward to eating the produce :)