Artist honours Mother Earth through her work and her garden

Inspiration from her garden

By Jaine Rose

We have a small suburban garden in the town of Stroud in Gloucestershire, U.K. There is a growing movement of people, of which we are part, who are inspired to find different ways of slowing down, working from home, living creatively and simply, and building community resilience in the face of changing times.

My garden is small, but is crammed full of fruit trees and bushes, a tiny greenhouse, raised beds, and bursting permaculture in every nook and cranny!. At the end of the garden I have a small beach-hut where I work from, and a little deck to sit on, housing a Witchazel, an Oak, a Rowan and various herbs in pots. Any spare vegetables or fruit is handed out to neighbours, or can be sold at our local farmers market.

Not only does my garden provide me with food, and of course soul-food, but I also make herbal teas, tinctures and salves from the plants. Kitchen witchery at its best!

Food for Thought

By Jaine Rose

Myself and my family are undergoing a strange and not so quiet revolution. We are 1 vegan, 1 vegetarian, 2 full on meat eaters and 2 undecided! All different tastes and all for different reasons. Mealtimes can be a vibrant and sometimes stormy affair. My husband (the meat and cheese aficionado) dropped into the conversation that he will shortly convert to a vegan for environmental reasons, amid jaw dropping silence. So as I write this, I realise we all have some bold and difficult questions to start asking about what we eat and why.

I know that my food carbon footprint is potentially bigger than my transport one and that to me is astounding, even though we work locally, car share and do not fly. I also know that we are solidly in an age of monoculture farming, with a heavy oil dependency awash with chemical fertilisers and pesticides. What we eat has become a huge social and political issue – a battleground where we can and we must flex our consumer muscles, and of course start making those tough choices so greatly needed.

With Government food policy badly out of touch with public mood and a UK food and farming system that cannot meet the challenges of climate change, I can’t help but feel that we don’t have time to wait for political parties to act, or for legislation to kick in. Out of season, carbon heavy food is planetary suicide. As we powerdown to a leaner and more self-reliant foodie future, I am cooking up my own culinary visions of loveliness, and here are some for you to sample:

A patchwork of urban permaculture – I am making an agroforestry front garden paradise as we speak – support for our CSA farms (we have 2 in Stroud), strong local farmers markets, less or no meat and an edging towards veganism; relishing the slow food movement, community meal shares (always quite raucous and spicy where we live!), allotments, garden shares and the widespread planting of community orchards, fruit and nut trees – quite deliciously empowering!

So this is my act of Earth care, People care and Fair (meal) share – putting value and love back into what we eat, creatively and with a fierce and passionate love for our planet and its nurturing gifts.

See more about the artist and her work here.