Epiphany of Symmetry

Neil Thornely Sunrise over Cundy Street

Let us go towards the shore
Of reason yes? No less or more
What more than this for us to see?
Our eyes hide well just what's in store

The things we feel or yearn to see
Are explained by infinity
And bursting through a frameless door
Exists what Kubla Khan decreed

I see a lady to the West
Whose spectacle I glimpse at best
In fleeting moments when I see all
She wears a broach upon her breast

In our clouded minds we heed the call
Of darkness cloaked in shadows tall
Whilst unaware we miss the rest
Of consciousness or what we call

An epiphany.

For it is the mind's prerogative
To follow that which lets us live
In the fight to win our race
Perception is the one to give

For with a smile upon your face
Through golden meadows dreams you chase
Necessity to just survive
Would surely be lost in the haste

Does nature really lack the trust
And leave its doted in the dust
Stray travellers only cross the path
To be left less incredulous

With our perception cut in half
We can't but sit and grimly laugh
Or drown in misery and disgust
At a world controlled by psychopaths

 

Bluebells in Broomhill

Green Fingers

James Williams

Those long overdue summer evenings are fast arriving and I for one am looking at different ways to spend my time away from the office that doesn't involve staring at a screen or drinking in trendy bars.
I would also like to be outside and burn a few calories without resorting to shelling out £40 a month to have a man in lycra shout unhelpful slogans at me such as "feel the burn" and "push the pain barrier" as I turn a shade of purple usually reserved for plums.

So that's the remit that I've been looking to fill.
A relaxing summer, with a health kick, but no gyms.
And I think I may have found the solution.

Actually I might have gone one better. Not only will I unwind in the great outdoors, whilst toning those pectorals and biceps, I should also reap some tasty morsels to bolster the shopping basket.

I am of course talking about gardening, or more specifically, tending an allotment.

I should say at this point that the few close encounters I've had growing things has usually resulted in stringy, withered, yellow 'plants' that bear no resemblance to the pictures on the packets and look more like forgotten rope found in murky puddles on farms.As for eating them.....

So I'll be honest and say I was slightly apprehensive at taking on a full allotment plot.
But after a few chats with some regulars at my local allotment I think that the vision of me reclining in a deck chair, rows of runner beans disappearing into the distance is less fanciful and more realistic.

I'm also really attracted to the idea of growing and eating your own food.
I'm the kind of person who is slightly stunned/embarrassed [delete as desired] when walking down the shopping isles to see food that is better travelled than I am and yet costs less than a bus ticket into town.
Eating food which is literally the fruits of my labour would be fantastic and I'm sure would taste all the sweeter.

Previously the only real barrier stopping me from growing my own grub (apart from my own laziness) has been the lack of suitable land.

This is where the allotment comes in.

A quick browse on the council's website tells me that there are over 3000 allotments around Sheffield, with over 70 sites to choose from.

A quick email later and I find out that there are some available plots only a mile from my doorstep.

It would seem that I'm blinkered to most of life as there are allotments dotted all over Sheffield. I guess it's another one of those things where if you just scratch the surface there's a whole new world to explore.

So I now have a variety of sites to choose from all of them relatively close to my home.

So how much is an acre of farmable land worth in this fair city?

40 quid.

For a year.

Yes, a whole year.

Better than that, if you are a student you may even get a discount of about 50% which means that for the price of a couple of CD's you can rent your own piece of land, for a year, and do whatever you want with it.

You could turn it into a secret garden complete with pixies and fairies, grow enough veggies to host those weekly Hari Krishna meetings or churn the ground into a muddy pit to reminisce over this year's festivals.

Either way I'm signing up as soon as I get away from this screen. I figure I have nothing to lose and a whole lot to gain.
So this is me going in at the deep end. I'll let you know how I get on with my new plot next issue.

For more information contact the allotments office pwc.allotments@sheffield.gov.uk

The Allotments Officer Woodlands & Countryside Service
Brook Road
Sheffield
S8 9FL
0114 273 4528

Or visit the website at: www.sheffield.gov.uk