Читать книгу The Allotment Book - Andi Clevely - Страница 15

News reports document the alarming worldwide decline in biodiversity, the variety and numbers of plants and creatures on earth. How you manage your plot can have an equally critical impact on wildlife at a much more local level, and is more within your power to control. Using sustainable gardening methods and minimizing disturbance to natural life cycles can help safeguard the future for other species that use the plot. An allotment is often teeming with life, whether it is soil-based and out of sight, or more obvious, like the birds, insects, amphibians and reptiles that may be found on any sensitively managed site.

Before long, however, you will become aware of a wider context: life in the soil and surroundings, the influence of local geography and climate, and even the old-fashioned concept of stewardship – your responsibility for the continuing welfare of the land in your care. This could lead you into asking more fundamental questions about the way you are growing your crops, and the implications of simply imposing a basic plan on the plot for short-term results.