Hi everyone, As you may or may not have guessed, I'm no longer blogging with WFMU. There's been a bit of a reshuffle, and it was decided that gardening had no place on a music blog, which is fair enough I guess. Thanks to everyone for your comments over the months and do keep in touch. As to the negative comments on the soil - well, we had a full year's worth of excellent vegetables, so I guess it's full of organic goodies after all. Never judge anything by a poorly shot photo ;) Happy 2010 everyone, and enjoy the music. :)

Thanks to everyone for the lovely comments (although I'm still confused by illich - sending you hugs, sweetie). It's the little things in life that get us through the bad times - yes, it still hurts, but I'm getting there. Hugs to everyone. :)

james - what an excellent idea! I shall have to look into that. Definitely fits in with my junk ethos. Me - if you read this post out in a James Mason voice it sort of works. ;)

k - seriously, I just have a really really shit camera!

barryeugene - You have completely made my day. :) Some of the negative comments on here really get me down, and then I hear something like "georgy has actually inspired me to start a garden" and that makes me feel infinitely better. Hugs to ya - and send me some photos of your garden!

Funnily enough, me and the Other Half were debating whether the 40th anniversary of Altamont would get as much rose-tinted coverage as Woodstock, the Moon Landings et al... I somehow doubt it - can't think why! ;)

Hi Art - Please let me reassure you that I wasn't making fun of you in any way, shape or form and I genuinely apologise if it came across that way. I think if you click on "FMU BOT" (under their comment) it takes you through to the TypePad profile where there should be an email address or comment box or something similar, if that helps. I hope I haven't put you off WFMU!! :(

None taken. It *is* only one weekly post out of scores of other posts, so I'm not entirely sure why you feel that you're somehow bombarded with gardening? And, to be fair, you get the introductory paragraph on the front page with a link to click if you want to read more... so essentially you're getting a gardening paragraph a week. Why do you feel then that you "have to sift through the gardening posts"? I'm genuinely curious.

Well "SorryToBeBlunt" but quite a lot of people seem to get a kick out of reading this one... Quite a few of the blog writers here at WFMU reference personal experience - this is, after all, a music site, and music is so firmly bound up in memory and emotion. I've said from the very beginning that my contribution is all about my personal journey in urban gardening and so the line between experience and information will get blurred from time to time. I genuinely hope that you stick around and keep reading - I for one get a lot out of the comments that readers share with me, and I find it fascinating hearing about their experiences with gardening and growing in an urban setting.

Just been reading about learned helplessness - fascinating stuff, thank you for that!! I have noticed that there is a definite victim culture in society which is in direct contrast to, say, the war years when people would make do and mend. I cannot see the sense in rolling over and letting things happen to you. There is always ALWAYS a way out of any given situation and a way to find strength in adversity.

Wouldn't you know it - the little tyke's growing upwards! LOL He'll figure it out soon enough... onwards to the aubergines...

Hellbound Alleee - ditto on "Harold and Maude" for me. ;)

... we've added another brick and a half to the pile, part of a metal pipe, the number from the door, yet another piece of paving stone, two more bones, part of a plate and a plastic garbage bag. And we're still only halfway through. I am confident in finding Lord Lucan, Shergar, the treasure of the Sierra Madre and the Holy Grail by the end of it. ;)

Anne - thank you! :) I'm just over on your Flickr page now; love the excavated toy truck ;) What are those gorgeous orange-tipped leaves? Jrld - Willing Workers on Organic Farms sounds right up my street, and it sounds like the kind of thing I might find on the rural outskirts of dear old Brighton. ;) I got a prospectus from Plumpton Agricultural College over the weekend, so I've been checking out formal qualifications in case my local college doesn't get back to me for an interview. All good stuff! Hellbound Alleee - I shall stop fretting about my roots. I think it's newbie skittishness and a bit of impatience. I'm trying to weed out my impatience and just let the plants do their thing, but it's a hard habit to break! ;)

Jrld - truthfully, I've gotten so much information from the Internet and it has the added benefit of how-to videos and podcasts which have given me a wealth of goodies. Forums too have been fabulous.

K - thank you, sweetie!! :) Compost is arriving in the next couple of weeks, as is some leaf mulch, and the Other Half is arriving on Friday to give me a hand with the digging. ;) The soil's been neglected so needs a bit of love, but it's teeming with worms, which is a good sign. Funny that you should mention "The Good Life"... I caught an old episode just the other night and realised that I'd paid a bit more attention to it when I was a kid than I'd imagined. ;) I shall have to get some Felicity Kendall-style dungarees at this rate!!

K - so, carnivorous plants do the whole gulp thing? I had no idea. That's sort of fascinating and creepy in equal measures.

See, this is where this blog comes into its own and what makes me look forward to writing something new every Saturday. I look into something and think "Ok... interesting...", pitch it out there and then you all come back with lots of additional information and experiences that blow me away. And I learn more. I started off wondering about plants feeling stuff and wrote the article which sort of moved me off the fence a little bit, and now with the extra information I'm thinking that maybe there is something more to this. Which means I've been interacting with my plants more. :)