“The plot’s as much about growing people as it is about growing food”
Yvonne: The plot’s as much about growing people as it is about growing food. It’s a lovely supportive place to do new things as part of a community. I’ve been able to try out new ideas here and experiment.
I first came to do a little bit of gardening with some other women about six years ago and I didn’t really look far ahead but I was hooked and I’ve been coming ever since!
My role here has evolved. I was instrumental in setting up Thyme & Space – a group for survivors of abuse, I’m on the Circle Team and now run my own workshops here - that has been a beautiful surprise.
The plot’s been really great for me in that it’s enabled me to gain confidence in leading and setting up groups. I’d not led groups of women on workshops before so it was something I was able to try out in a lovely, supportive, kind atmosphere.
Alison was able to nurture me along the way to help me take more of a role myself and since then I’ve developed my own business called ‘Forest Moons’ which is helping people to bring in the creativity of living in tune with the cycles of the moon and the wisdom of trees.
I’ve run a couple of workshops here with small groups of women – one about willow and one about hazel and it’s been fantastic in just enabling me to get over the fear of stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something. The land is really supportive.
When people come to the plot for the first time they come in through the main gate and the plot opens out before them and it’s full of flowers and vegetables and roses drooping off the pergola and dahlias in full flower in the late summer. It’s a beautiful place and you can see them take in a big breath and then they’re just gobsmacked for a while.
It’s not just about growing food, there’s lots of little secret seats and tables, greenhouses and a polytunnel, and trees that envelop a fire pit. We’ve got a beautiful big coppiced ash at the back, a hazel, a dwarf willow and a lot of apple and pear and cherry trees. It’s just a lovely holding place - a real oasis right in the middle of Brighton.
There is this modern idea of biophilia where humans and trees and native plants are interwoven. Trees give off terpenes and other chemicals that our body then absorbs and which help our immune system so they’re really important. But also on a psychological and spiritual level there’s a lot of metaphors in nature that you can take on board and apply to your life.
Spaces like this are pivotal especially to people who don’t have much green space in their own homes, it’s a fantastic place to come and everybody’s very welcome. People come feeling tired and frazzled and nervous, and they end leaving relaxed and nurtured and supported.
I do feel part of a community here. A few of us have been coming to Lady Garden for a number of years so we’ve got to know each other really well. There are always new ideas that we’re cooking up and we do it as a team. We take them to the Circle Team meetings and talk them over as an option. I tend to steer the growing of things - we’re just setting up a group called The Germinators to sow the seeds.