Out Come the Wolves

While in my master’s year at the University of Sussex, I had the sudden benefit of a garden- we’d had one before, but then it was all concreted, paved patio, with a few fallow corners teeming with hardy bushes and weeds. I attempted creating a small bed for at least a flower of some sort but it was so shady that I was confined to growing inside (often unsuccessfully.)             The garden was similar to the previous one, but with a few meagre beds lining the walls. Though small and strewn with litter such as chicken bones and splintered fruit crates, and underlying plants such as a grape vine and daffodils that flourished suddenly in spring, this small space offered me an opportunity to grow things on my back doorstep, a chance I had not had yet.             In these small concreted beds I planted many vegetables and plants, with quite some small (but nonetheless warmin...

All pictures are taken from the Sussex Roots facebook group (link at bottom) and so may not be my own. Sussex Roots is a society at the University of Sussex; we have always attempted to act as a co-operative as much as Student Union society limits will let us. Basically, it is an allotment for all to get involved in, learn about DIY gardening for the purpose of food, learn about interacting with the environment, experiment with sustainability and socialise outside of an academic space. The original allotment site- we grew almost everything in raised beds outside. I first heard of Roots from a group of my neighbours from East Slope, the now condemned student halls at Sussex, that were about to head out to the site. It suddenly dawned on me that this would be the first time I could make decisions and be more active in growing food. Before, when working on family member's plots, I was merely clueless labour; now, I was part of a team, all of us clueless, welcoming to more c...