I work in the live music industry, but outside of that, I derive real pleasure from gardening organically with the intention of feeding my young family.
There’s been a lot of talk over the last decade or so about the benefits of eating seasonally, but I feel the only true way of putting that to the test is by growing your own. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to berate those that don’t share my view, but at the same time I feel that us home-growers have the potential to contribute to a future which places food-sovereignty front and centre.
I grow crops from all origins, including F1 hybrids, but my focus as a gardener is on taking traditional, open-pollinated varieties and growing them under local conditions/soils to ultimately produce strong, well-adapted, home-saved seed that is suited to individual environments. So much of the seed we sell in the UK is developed in countries where conditions differ wildly from our own. It’s about time we took back ownership of our seed sovereignty, and mobilising local growers is the first step in achieving that.
To find out more about Marks’ endeavours please visit his Instagram Account @markhomegrowndad
