When I was in England, I was struck at how virtually everyone there gardens. No matter how small or non-existent (in the case of multi-story apartment dwellers) their available soil might be, a deep love of cultivating is part of the British character.
In The New Statesman, gardening writer Katherine Lambert reviews two books on the subject, The Gardens of the British Working Class by Margaret Willes and A Green and Pleasant Land: How England’s Gardeners Fought the Second World War by Ursula Buchan.
From the dew-soaked hedge creeps a crawly caterpillar,
When the dawn begins to crack.
It’s all part of my autumn almanac.
Breeze blows leaves of a musty-coloured yellow,
So I sweep them in my sack.
Yes, yes, yes, it’s my autumn almanac…
