The Sunday Times recently printed an article written by Natalie about her allotment.
Earlier this year, my family were given an allotment plot. Very overgrown, with some hard work it is now starting to thrive. Growing is a big part of the inspiration for my interiors. The colours, the wellbeing it brings us. Bringing the outdoors inside with the use of florals and plants is an important part of my staging work.
I’ve always loved writing and decided earlier this year that I would write about other things that interested me – not just staging!
I couldn’t believe it when I opened The Sunday Times and there was my article! I thought it was going online, not in the national Sunday papers!
Here is the article as featured in The Sunday Times. I was thrilled to be included given writing is a new hobby, so I couldnt have asked for a better paper to feature in – The Sunday Times!
A monastic stillness in a hectic city
Today it smells of strawberries. We haven’t been on the allotment for long, but each day it feels different, smells different, is different. Having grown up in the countryside – you could say the countryside brought me up – having this space at the end of our road, the Uxbridge Road where the lullaby sounds day and night is the constant sirens, is heavenly. The moment I open the gate, it seems as if the birds sing twice as loud, green is greener, and the relaxed atmosphere of people quietly working on the land, growing, chatting and sharing ideas instantly sooths the nervous system.
When we first moved to Ealing 11 years ago, the first thing I did was sign up to the allotments. These allotments are the oldest in London. They had stretched out across the Northfields Avenue but now the ones that remain lie in the shadow of the tower blocks that have now been built there. The new blocks going up are a constant reminder of the threat that green land in London is under. Each allotment holder would have had XXXXX which has now been halved. They were large enough to feed a family – something that you can only dream of in today’s Cost of Living world. We were lucky. We’ve been on the list so long that we were offered a half plot which means we won’t have to move until we decide we want to. Usually, you have a gardener’s plot to start with, half the size, and you can then be moved at some point to a half plot as they become available.
It’s taken 11 years to be able to say yes when the call came through. When we were first offered it after a few years of waiting, we declined. Young children and working were already more of a juggle than we were handling very well! To look after something else would have pushed us to the edge! When the call came again, 7 years later, we went for it! And I’m so glad we did. It has already brought so much to our lives. Our neighbour who recently asked where he was on the list (he’s 3 years wating) was told he was 298 on the list. It’s a long wait. Apparently, waiting lists for allotments have more than doubled in the last 12 years. My guess in London post covid that’s it has gone up again. Land is scarce and the threat of building too acute. In West Ealing there has been recent applications for building on the allotments, fiercely fought back by the residents and plot holders.
The first task was to weed the area which had fully overgrown. It doesn’t take long for the weeds to reign, and our previous custodian had not visited for a while. I don’t know much about the previous plot holder other than they liked daisies and had a flower section which we’ve kept, along with their love for berries. Otherwise, it was starting at the beginning. So of course we planted seeds of which only the potatoes worked. It’s a steep learning curve like having your first child. And books only help so much – like a baby – its really chatting to people you find out the interesting things that are gamechangers. What works on this soil, what websites can tell you when to plant, how to stop the slugs, do we keep the pond or not. There is a wealth of knowledge that we are tapping into, though everyone starts with, ‘I don’t know but….’ and it seems they know a lot more than we do!
Our youngest is really into food and cooking. It is partly for him that we said yes, though if he had it his way, we’d only plant strawberries. For the boys to understand how hard it is to grow, compared to how much one consumes. And to see the difference in fresh produce, grown without chemicals, versus imported goods. Already we are reaping the rewards of the strawberries and raspberries. More delicious than any brought at the supermarket – we are enjoying them on our morning Bircher.
As the boys get older and the fight with technology is now more of a war than a battle, we hope that this space will provide some wellbeing for them. A space where we don’t bring our phones, or talk too loudly, but a space to quietly be. It has a feeling of a quiet monastic spirituality to the allotment, an energy of stillness and beauty where nature has for once the chance to dictate the pace of life. Where colour explodes one day to the next – one day the poppies are in full bloom with bees all about, the next day the petals fallen to the ground, an imperfect beauty that reminds us of all things passing.
For now, its all about watering and an early visit in the morning is the best start to the day. When for a moment I can just be, listen to the birds, see the colours that are inspiring my interior work, enjoy the shade of the walnut tree, and marvel at how every day it changes before rejoining the fast-paced London life of being a working mother running her own business.
Natalie Fernbach is creative director of Cullum Design, a home staging & Interiors styling company based in London.
As seen in The Sunday Times 12th August Homes and Interiors section.
https://cullum-design.com/
@cullumdesign
