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I haven’t been out to help in the garden yet, but as I have the next two days free, I hope I will. An area the size of a 5-aside football pitch has been given over to the growing of fruit and vegetables, and I can’t wait to help. Strawberries, cherries, red currants, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, beetroot, onions are what I have identified so far (or been told about), but there seem to be other plants around, so summer/autumn should be fun indeed.

While I haven’t helped out with dad’s garden since I was a kid, its something I have become more interested in recently. With the limited balcony space I had in Japan I managed to grow lots of spinach, and try my hand at tomatoes, aubergine and okra.

An increased awareness of what I am eating, and my impact on the environment is something that I have been cultivating (sorry for the pun) for the past two years. It was sparked after watching the film FOOD INC, a documentary that exposes the industrial food complex as being less than positive, for both farmers and us. Anything I can do to help, be it not wearing plastic anymore (only wool/cotton wherever I can), eating local vegetables, cooking all my meals myself and not buying pre-made stuff and, frankly, just thinking about what I eat/do.

While living with a host family removes the ability to cook for myself, the local produce (fresh milk from my neighbour, vegetables from literally outside the kitchen window etc) somewhat makeup for it.