Digging in at the plot – March

Regular readers of this blog will be aware that one of the things we’re passionate about is de-centralising and localising the way our food is produced. They will also be aware that when it comes to this, we don’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk as well, with our involvement in this local project where we live in Keynsham – Keynsham Community Veg Plot in the Park. Regular readers will also be aware that we’re making a point of posting up the reports we publish about the work sessions we have at the plot – this is the latest one from last Saturday (1.3):

We had a productive work session at the plot today. Five more buckets of useable compost material were extracted from the compost bins. Added to the nine we dug out at the previous session a week and a half ago, that's fourteen buckets in all - a pretty decent haul overall:) These were spread over the beds which were then subsequently raked to be as level and smooth as possible.

At this point in the year, it's all about getting the beds ready for sowing and planting. There's more work to be done on this, most notably removing the stones from the beds at the far end of the plot and also alongside where the box hedge used to be. There are quite a few stones to be moved...this will be the focus of our next work session which will be on Wednesday 19th March, starting at 2pm. If any of you can spare the time to come along and help, it would really be appreciated.

Today being March 1st, it was the first day of meteorological Spring. It felt good to be working on the plot with the sun out and passers by stopping to chat about what we're doing with the plot. It really feels like things are starting to move and we're eagerly anticipating the time when we can start planting and sowing:)

The point about publishing these reports is to give people an idea of what’s involved in running a community vegetable plot, with the obvious proviso being that no two projects will ever be the same because of factors such as location, soil conditions and last but by no means least, the people involved in the project. What we also hope to do is to inspire people to set up similar projects in their neighbourhoods. We don't see other community vegetable plots springing up in Keynsham as 'competition' – we see them as collaborators in the bigger project of de-centralising and localising our food production, and ultimately, bringing a bit of power back down to the grassroots.

You don't need us to tell you that we live in an increasingly volatile and dystopian world. Anything that can be done to bring power back down to the grassroots and away from the corrupt politicians who presume to rule over us and the faceless corporations they serve has to be welcomed. De-centralising and localising the way we produce and distribute our food is just one of many ways of achieving this.

You also don't need us to tell you that the drums of war are beating ever louder as the strutting, puffed up politicians who rule over us think they can face off Russia and win. This is something that has been written about at length on our sister blog, Stirrings from below: Some thoughts on the clamour for war 3.3.25. Amongst the commentary about the consequences of any armed conflict, mention has been made of the fact that the United Kingdom is far from being self sufficient in food production and would face serious difficulties if any escalation of tensions, let alone outright conflict, disrupted food imports. That is undeniably true. We do need to be more self sufficient. However, we want to put it on record that any attempt to co-opt our community vegetable and fruit plot into some kind of 'dig for victory' effort will be rejected out of hand, as we explained in this piece: Digging for victory? 23.11.24.

A 'Dig For Victory' campaign is essentially the state marshalling our labour to fulfil their malevolent war aims. It has absolutely nothing to do with our principles of the decentralisation and localisation of food production which is aimed at lessening and eventually eliminating our dependence on the state and the corporations, neither of which have our interests at heart. We hope that is abundantly clear to all of our supporters and readers and also, any warmongers who may be tempted to co-opt and twist our principles to suit their nefarious aims.

The only ‘victory’ we’re interested in is the one that strips psychopathic governments of any power to rule over us and destroys the greedy, ruthless corporations and bankers they serve. One that brings power and accountability right down to the grassroots in our communities. One where we can build the sane, sustainable and humane society that we all need to thrive.

We make no apologies for quoting at length from the Digging for victory? piece because we want to make it abundantly clear that we have no intention of allowing our project to be co-opted in any way, shape or form.