Let's Get Britain Growing Again... ; Grow Your Own! Part 1 How Do You Get Fresh, Tasty Food for Next to Nothing, a Terrific Sense of Achievement - and Help Dig the Country Out of the Mess It's In? Easy, Says Monty Don, Start Growing Your Own Veg

Daily Mail › March 28, 2009

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Summary

The clocks go forward tonight and my world leaps into spring. There is no better moment in my calendar, and the fact that this happens every year does not diminish the sense of surprise, a sudden gift of light and time. But what is different this year, more so than any other in my lifetime, is the sense that the world has changed since last March. We are, to a great extent, in uncharted territory. Financial systems have collapsed, governments are floundering, climate change is increasingly revealing the extent of its impact on human life and I believe that there is every reason to be seriously concerned about our food supply.

Yet I am full of hope. When things fall apart you are presented with the opportunity to put them together again better. We can learn from our mistakes, and one of these follies is that we have largely abandoned our personal connection to the land and our food. Most people under 40 have no real idea of how, where or why their food is produced.

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Extract

Let's Get Britain Growing Again... ; Grow Your Own! Part 1 How Do You Get Fresh, Tasty Food for Next to Nothing, a Terrific Sense of Achievement - and Help Dig the Country Out of the Mess It's In? Easy, Says Monty Don, Start Growing Your Own Veg

It is dispensed to them in some form of packaging, has steadily got cheaper and cheaper, and there is no sense of personal responsibility for any part of it, other than consumption. We can - and must - change this, and the place to start is in the garden, now, as spring opens out into the light.

This is no hardship. The ability to grow your own vegetables, fruit and herbs is not only practically important for your health and well-being, it is also immensely satisfying. No amount of wealth will ever purchase vegetables that give you th...

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