{"id":50390,"date":"2017-03-31T21:00:05","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T14:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/plot-29-a-memoir-by-allan-jenkins-review-childhood-trauma-and-the-solace-of-gardening\/"},"modified":"2017-03-31T21:13:33","modified_gmt":"2017-03-31T14:13:33","slug":"plot-29-a-memoir-by-allan-jenkins-review-childhood-trauma-and-the-solace-of-gardening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/plot-29-a-memoir-by-allan-jenkins-review-childhood-trauma-and-the-solace-of-gardening\/","title":{"rendered":"Plot 29: A Memoir by Allan Jenkins review \u2013 childhood trauma and the solace of gardening"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nAs he cultivates his London allotment, the journalist also digs into his troubled past \u2013 a brilliant grafting of haunting recollections on to a gardener\u2019s diary\u201cWe must cultivate our garden,\u201d was the moral of Voltaire\u2019s 1759 satire Candide. Faced with a world full of evil, uncertainty, bad luck, corrupt politics, natural disaster and torture, the best Voltaire\u2019s hero can do is stay at home and look after the produce of his own garden, a small plot with pistachio nuts and citrons. Out in the world, Candide\u2019s plans go horribly wrong. It is only in his small plot that he can lead a life that is productive, responsible and serene.Something of the same spirit animates the wonderful Plot 29 by Observer journalist Allan Jenkins, which is half memoir, half thoughtful gardener\u2019s diary. Like Helen Macdonald\u2019s H Is for Hawk, this is a profoundly moving account of mental trauma told through the author\u2019s encounters with nature. Jenkins sees his garden as a place where a person can try to escape from, and atone for, the darkness of human existence. Plot 29 is the shared London allotment where for 10 years, he has been growing an array of biodynamic flowers and vegetables, from Tuscan kale to courgette blossoms. In his daily life, Jenkins lives with a sense of hurt and loss from a childhood he feels he can never put behind him. Plot 29, by contrast, presents him with more consoling and immediate problems such as pigeons, weeds and snails who \u201clie in wait like bullies\u201d. He describes the sheer grind involved, often at the crack of dawn before he goes to the office: the hours spent stirring cow manure into water by hand, or carefully weaving together hazel poles for beans to clamber up. For Jenkins, this labour is not just about producing delicious vegetables. What he is growing in this city garden, along with the marigold and sorrel, is a kind of \u201csolace\u201d. Continue reading…
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\nSource : theguardian.com
\nRead more…Plot 29: A Memoir by Allan Jenkins review \u2013 childhood trauma and the solace of gardening<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As he cultivates his London allotment, the journalist also digs into his troubled past \u2013...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-d6K","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":108980,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/when-were-on-holiday-do-our-gardens-miss-us-allan-jenkins\/","url_meta":{"origin":50390,"position":0},"title":"When we\u2019re on holiday, do our gardens miss us | Allan Jenkins","date":"July 14, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Everything has gone wild and some serious effort is needed to restore garden and gardener\u2019s happinessThe best-planted plans... This is a return to the allotment after near three weeks away. I had put in the work. I had weeded and fed, I had sowed new rows and organised watering\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":114311,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/missing-plot-29s-healing-powers-allan-jenkins\/","url_meta":{"origin":50390,"position":1},"title":"Missing Plot 29\u2019s healing powers | Allan Jenkins","date":"February 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\r After enforced rest for garden and gardener, it\u2019s time to (slowly) start springI have been exiled from the allotment for a few weeks now in a smaller world of pain. The plot is at the top of a hill and walking steep slopes has been beyond me. The meditation\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":108787,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/harvest-time-on-plot-29-allan-jenkins\/","url_meta":{"origin":50390,"position":2},"title":"Harvest time on Plot 29 | Allan Jenkins","date":"July 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\r This month in the garden has its rewards \u2013 and a few jobs, tooJuly, the harvest time, when sowing slows, but even though it\u2019s the summer holidays you\u2019ll need to grow for next spring: cabbages, cauliflowers, sprouts if you like them.Continue with kales and chards and fennel. And it\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131114,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/clear-and-present-knocking-the-plot-into-shape-allan-jenkins\/","url_meta":{"origin":50390,"position":3},"title":"Clear and present: knocking the plot into shape | Allan Jenkins","date":"October 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"\r After the long growing season, the allotment is crying out for hoes, secateurs and stringHoward and I are here to clear. The taller sunflowers are swooning, leaves hanging limp like handkerchiefs. Many of the saffron robe tagetes are bent out of shape. The morning glory structures have had their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":115722,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/a-woodpecker-soft-spring-light-and-hope-on-the-plot-allan-jenkins\/","url_meta":{"origin":50390,"position":4},"title":"A woodpecker, soft spring light, and hope on the plot | Allan Jenkins","date":"April 19, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\r We dig, sow and eat chocolate biscuits \u2013 and it feels like progressBreakthrough day at the plot. When the late spring garden takes shape, the soil shakes off its slumber and the early summer structures go up. Howard and I had started early. Greeted by the spotted woodpecker who\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":106863,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/more-light-more-sun-may-brings-gardeners-the-promise-of-an-endless-summer-allan-jenkins\/","url_meta":{"origin":50390,"position":5},"title":"More light, more sun, May brings gardeners the promise of an endless summer | Allan Jenkins","date":"May 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Get sowing \u2013 summer squash, sweet peas, calendula, tagetes, peas, salad \u2013 and enjoy this special time of yearIt\u2019s finally May, the gardener\u2019s month of active sun. Two hours more light a day by Friday 31st. It is the start of my favourite time, since I was a child,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50390"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50390\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}