Growth

We are feeling excited…

Things are growing in the Sanctuary – overwintering plants, tiny chicks and… ideas. 

Ideas, plans, hopes and dreams for what The Sanctuary Garden could be this year, next year and into the future.

Many of you already know that there are plans to build a housing estate on land directly adjacent to the Sanctuary. Beautiful farmland lost to housing, but we also see beautiful people on our doorstep who, through interacting with us in a variety of ways, could learn to love, grow, cook and eat locally grown, wholesome food. And not to mention you – yes, you, reader – now! You’re with us now, and have been for yonks – you’ve known what we’re about before we even really do. This amorphous vision of good food, nature and the outdoors, hard work, clean and local, personal – this is us, and we so appreciate you being with us as we begin this journey. 

In this moment, we are the seed packet. Not a single seed, a bit further along than that – but a seed packet filled with tiny little beads of hope, inspiration and determination. This spring we plant the seeds. 

Have you ever grown asparagus from seed? The seeds are small – maybe a bit bigger than a lentil, black, shiny and with an impenetrable look about them. You plant them under cover in early January and up pops the most fragile looking frond. And thus it stays, producing tiny little fronds, which slowly increase in size – surely, you think to yourself, I’ll be eating a delicious plate of asparagus soon?

Friends, the asparagus is a slow-grower. There is a traditional Chinese saying that goes something like this: ‘The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.’ Harsh, but honest! Whilst asparagus will be ready to harvest well before 20 years, you will need to give it 2-3 years before you eat from it. It will then honour you for years, producing more spears every year, requiring very little upkeep, producing new plants that you can lift and transplant… it is a fruitful friend.

And yet, right now, we are the seed. Inert, just ideas in a drawer somewhere. Yet just as seeds transform with warmth, water and care, we are about to begin our journey (we also appreciate warmth, water and care 😂). Time, effort and gumption are about to transform our ideas into reality – we’re no radish, going whole-hog ready to eat in a matter of weeks, we’re no tatties, a full crop in one growing season – we are the asparagus, hard black seed to tiny frond to tender plant – but we see the fruitful future ahead. Each idea, a seed planted into this year’s warming soil, to take this beautiful vision and let it grow: to nurture nature, our bodies and our souls. 

Come along, friends.

🌱If you had a wee bitty land, some time and ideas – what would you do with it? Personally, I’m desperate for a yurt and a wood-burning stove, but that might be a bit self-serving, I fear! 😂 Let us know what you would do in the comments below – we promise to respond. 🌱

Best wishes from The Sanctuary Garden