May 2018
I am currently hurtling headlong to the end of my studies - the three years that I was really worried about committing to (albeit crammed into two years to make life even more difficult!) will soon be over within the next month. I still have two more exams to take and a whole bunch of assessments, but if previous exams are anything to go by - I have passed all six so far, one with a commendation from the RHS - then potentially I will have the responsibility of a qualification that I need to do something with. I don't want it all to go to waste and I certainly don't want life to carry on as before.
I've been carrying out garden maintenance jobs over the past year and a bit and have loved it, but I was surprised that the work does seem to stop suddenly from the end of October, with no new work picked up in the intervening months until March. This does strike me as a bit odd as we all work in our own gardens in those winter months, even if we are just tidying up and prepping the garden for the spring, to try and get a bit of a head start.
So it's time to specialise and, with that in mind, I've been researching plant dyes - something I'm very interested in anyway. I can't do too much research as I'm conscious I've still got the exams to revise for but I'm getting everything set up so that I can start almost immediately after the exams. I've discovered a love of learning over the past couple of years and I feel the need for the learning to continue, even if it's me teaching myself and learning from mistakes!
The internet is a wonderful thing and I have reams and reams of paperwork printed off showing me what I should be doing once I've got the fruit, veg and plants. But I would like to combine that with growing the fruit, veg and plants in the first place.
I have 300 seeds of the Isatis tinctoria plant - woad - and I should be ok with those as they are native to the UK and Ireland, so we have the correct climate.
It's a whole other matter though for Lawsonia inermis - the henna tree. They grow in very hot, arid climates, and die if they get down below 5 degrees. I will cross that bridge when I come to it. I may have to befriend someone with a heated greenhouse!
I've been carrying out garden maintenance jobs over the past year and a bit and have loved it, but I was surprised that the work does seem to stop suddenly from the end of October, with no new work picked up in the intervening months until March. This does strike me as a bit odd as we all work in our own gardens in those winter months, even if we are just tidying up and prepping the garden for the spring, to try and get a bit of a head start.
So it's time to specialise and, with that in mind, I've been researching plant dyes - something I'm very interested in anyway. I can't do too much research as I'm conscious I've still got the exams to revise for but I'm getting everything set up so that I can start almost immediately after the exams. I've discovered a love of learning over the past couple of years and I feel the need for the learning to continue, even if it's me teaching myself and learning from mistakes!
I have 300 seeds of the Isatis tinctoria plant - woad - and I should be ok with those as they are native to the UK and Ireland, so we have the correct climate.
It's a whole other matter though for Lawsonia inermis - the henna tree. They grow in very hot, arid climates, and die if they get down below 5 degrees. I will cross that bridge when I come to it. I may have to befriend someone with a heated greenhouse!
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