by Lindsey Gulczynski

 

I moved into my new house a few days ago. On the first night fell into such a deep sleep that half way through the night I woke up and forgot where I was. Peering around amongst a sea of cardboard boxes was no use, so I squinted out the window only to see a few weird lights dotted beneath me. Burglars, aliens, overgrown fireflies?!

 

Lights of mystery 

I ignored them and went back to bed after realising that we had moved and I hadn’t been abducted after all. Unable to get to sleep due to a combination of the boyfriend snoring  and the dog dreaming I lay awake wondering about the lights in the garden. What on earth had we bought into I thought, my mind wandered until eventually I was convinced that we had bought a house on a plot of land that once was an ancient grave yard which had been used to dump nuclear waste causing the strange light show.

 

Daft I know. Just before dawn I woke again, boyfriend still snoring his little heart out, I decided to investigate on my own. Bowling pin in hand (useful weapon if needed) and odd socks on my feet I headed for the garden. After 5 minutes of trying various keys to unlock the door I was in a scene from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Pretty lights surrounded me. In my bravest move to date I grabbed hold of one and low and behold it was a lantern. Turned out to be one of those solar lights I’d seen on TV. 

 

And, so the discovery begins 

Later that morning after my daily dose of caffeine I inspected my new garden further. Not only were there many of these solar powered lights but there was a raised pond with a solar fountain on. The pond and fountain were so covered in algae and other green slimy things that neither the water nor the solar panels could see the sunlight. After a few minutes of pulling out some long straggly weeds I discovered that not only did I have an apple tree, with actual apples on it, but strawberries. I had fruit, edible fruit growing in my own garden.

 

So, out I went that very morning. Local gardening store here I come. I came home laden with gardening gloves, a small diggy thing and new fresh mud for the empty pots I had all over the patio. I know my technical terms are minimal, but I think you get the general jist. I spent the day digging out weeds, ripping off ivy from the shed and cutting the grass with a pair of large choppy things. The neighbours must have thought I was mad because I didn’t have a lawnmower. I didn’t particularly love having a huge spider land on me. I hated when I trod on a slug. Eugh .. .gardening in flip flops is not the most sensible idea I have ever had.

 

Making friends in the garden 

Now I am the type of person who doesn’t like anything with more than 4 limbs. Spiders, ants, wasps, bees, etc the list goes on. When it comes to gardening and growing anything containing chlorophyll my track record is not good. However, it’s amazing how a person can change once they have a garden of their own. Maybe it’s the Irish in me because as Scarlet O’Hara’s father would say “It will come to you, this love of the land. There's no gettin' away from it if you're Irish”. 

 

That night, tired and with mud under my nails, in my hair and smeared over my lovely Nike joggers I sat in my garden surrounded by my solar light show.

 

I went to bed feeling very satisfied with myself and wondering what else I could do. How far could I take this gardening malarkey? What else could I grow? Could I grow a whole meal? Potatoes, salads, carrots...the mind boggles. If I had solar powered lights and a little fountain what else could I power this way. I could get a water butt to collect water and use solar to pump it round the garden. I know my garden is not large enough to contain chickens or grow swathes of corn, however I can make a small start. As newbies to the entirely green lifestyle my boyfriend and I are still stuck in our urban ways to a certain extent and still chained by a mortgage. At the moment this is all more of an experiment to me, how much can I reduce my utility bills by and more than that, reduce my psychological marriage to all that is consumer and corporate. Now I have realised the potential that my small yet beautiful garden might hold I am quite excited.

 

Our household is miles away from being completely free of relying on electricity being pumped into every socket in the house by a faceless company. However, if we can make a move away from it, it’s a step in the right direction.  If I can use green energy such a solar power for the garden then inevitably it will spread to the house. More importantly for me is being able to grow my own food. If I had a constant supply of potatoes, tomatoes in summer and other vegetables I would be a very happy lady. That is my way of weaning myself into a truly green lifestyle.  Watch this space-- soon I could have my laptop powered by a generator connected to a wind turbine on my roof!