In our new series #GMinyourgarden, we’re peeking over the fence into gardens across the country to explore their places in our lives today. Not large, design-led spaces, but small-scale personal gardens lovingly nurtured by their creators (and which nurture them right back!).
First up, Poppy Okotcha:
‘My partner and I came from our houseboat’s roof garden to this long snaking garden in 2020, having hunted for a new home for about two years. Though it felt large to me, stretching 30 metres long and 6 metres wide at its broadest, this garden is about average size for the UK.
It was wild when we arrived, having been neglected for several years. Full of beautiful “weeds” and wildlife. Gardening it has been an experiment in a way! Guided by permaculture design and regenerative growing practices and inspired by the beautiful functionality of traditional cottage gardens, my aim is an edible garden that is beautiful, and full of life, a habitat for humans and wild things. I call what I do ecological gardening.
If you’d like to learn more about this sort of gardening, this year artist @pan.makes and I have created a 2025 calendar called Being of the Earth. It’s a guide to permaculture gardening which explores the 12 permaculture principles that inform how I grow. It has a lovely foreword by @permaculture_uk.
The calendar is available from poppyokotcha.com/shop
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