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Thursday, December 29, 2016

Gooseberry picking with the forest gardener



I'd like to use this fellow to present our forest gardening activities to a younger audience than I'm reaching here on my blog, so I'm trialing him here and welcome any comments. I made him years ago, from modeling clay, leather and cloth and wanted him to be a kindly gardening grandpa through whom I could tell stories from the garden, but I wonder if perhaps he's turned out a little severe, or maybe slightly scary. I'll try a few posts with him doing forest gardening stuff and see how he comes across - if I get a notice from the Broadcasting Commission asking me to take him down I'll know he's not the man/puppet for the job. I've not, in all these years, found a name for him, so if you've a suggestion, feel free to share it.

6 comments:

Greenfingers said...

What a lovely looking Grandpa for your story telling I think he has a lovely kindly twinkle look that children we be unsure of to start with and then as your stories unfold will love him how about " Grandpa Blog"

robertguyton said...

That's encouraging, thanks, Greenfingers. I think you are right too, about the stories that wrap around him and how they'll soften his "look". Perhaps he could have a camera-shy wife, of whom we only ever glimpse the corner of an apron, a bubbling jam-pan etc, in order to avoid the "old man living alone" thing. And hats,quaint garden tools, old fashioned plant pots etc...and a familiar? A cat or a toad...maybe a guinea pig! I'll set something up today and post it here.

Unknown said...

Well all gardeners who spend a lot of time outside need a hat. Maybe the camera shy Grandma could be glimpsed outside but partly hidden behind tall plants and a big hat.She'd need a container/basket /trug because of all the healthy yummy food she and Grandpa collect from the garden.
This camera shy ( not yet a Grandma) gardener is often seen with a jam pan- but it's very old dented one that serves as my everything basket when out in the garden. Tools, gloves, paper bags for seeds, string,a phone cos yknow, socks that got too hot in gumboots, a plastic bag for peas,lettuces etc that dont taste good with socks......

robertguyton said...

Perfect! Thanks, corokia. I feel a series coming on... to add some creative tension (not that there won't be some between the two characters above) I've also a cow fashioned in the same style. I can see her living over the fence on a farm that's very different from the forest garden and that difference can be topic of discussions between gardener and domestic animal. Perhaps she'd be forever trying to get into the garden for a decent feed, as the cows next door to our garden constantly are, and the debate around that would give me plenty of opportunity towrite creatively. I'll need a name for the cow also.

fredinthegrass said...

Without showing any particular bias, Rg, I feel he looks like a "Fred".
Fred is a kindly old chap, who potters around in his garden, and grows a great variety of 'things' - some of which
turn out surprisingly tasty. His raspberries are much sought after, and his strawberries have a sweetness not
noticed in the supermarket variety.
His one singularly unsuccessful venture has been gooseberries so perhaps you will need to come up with a name other than "Fred".

robertguyton said...

Fred seems a very pleasant fellow, from your description, Fred. His not being able to successfully grow gooseberries could be attributed to his choice of the region in which he's chosen to settle, rather than his gardening skills. The name Fred is in the hat, for sure.