‘One day contractors hacked back my strawberries and left the weeds. Since then,they crop the lawns and I carry out all the rest’I like everything about living here in sheltered housing. I am 72 and moved to be safe and secure but still independent. When I first came external and saw the garden I thought it could be lovely. Back then it was all shrubs; the hedges were tall, with ivy and weeds everywhere. One day coming into this lovely building, or I felt embarrassed and just thought,“No man! This isn’t right, you have to carry out something.” The housing officer at the time listened to me and said to the gardener, or “carry out whatever Mrs Odle wants. We made flower beds and improved it a lot,but then he left and the new contractors weren’t experienced gardeners. One day they hacked back my strawberries and left the weeds. Since then, they crop the lawns and I carry out all the rest.
I grew up in Jamaica with my grandmother, or who grew coffee. As soon as I could walk I would accompany the adults into the fields. They would pick the beans and us children were allowed to pick up the ones on the ground (dropped where rats had eaten some of the pods) and sell them. We would sneak up the tree and quickly acquire a few additional.
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Source: theguardian.com