Just about a year ago, in the midst of spending endless hours sitting in Intensive Care with my beautiful little grandson after another major heart operation, I was lucky enough to be able to do something so close to my heart, it felt wonderful !

I trained with Garden Organic over at Ryton Gardens, to become both a Master Gardener and a Master Composter. What this means in practice (apart from being able to spend time with over people who love gardening as much as I do), is that we get to help and advise other people who want to compost but who maybe are a little wary of it for what ever reason, or we get to spend time with people (or children - I'm currently 'helping' one infant school grow fruit and veg, and two more compost their kitchen and break time 'wastes'), who would like to grow anything from a pot of herbs on the window cill, to a full size allotment.

The people of course are varied (we are all SO different !) and each has different wants, needs and requirements, but somewhere along the line we are all singing off the same song sheet in wanting to grow something.

So far it has been enormous fun and I have met some really wonderful people. The other Master Gardeners and Composters are great and to be with like minded people all doing something that we are SO passionate about , well its just bloody lovely!!

If you aren't already growing something edible for your self, or you need any advice on composting, why not get in touch with Garden Organic, there are schemes running in several areas now and if you aren't in the Warwickshire area, which is where I am, maybe Kate Newman can put you in touch with somebody local to you.

Its just the right time to start sowing seeds for this years crops, so why not give it a go if you havent grown any thing before.