When we moved into out present house, five years ago, most traces of the natural world had been removed from the garden via the use of decking and plastic sheeting. We were told by neighbours that the soil was not good due to the land’s previous use, some decades earlier, as an industrial (“brown field”) site. To which we said “Horse Dung!” And, many sacks of the stuff later, the garden’s looking good and producing quite a lot of vegetables. And we live to tell the tale.

Part of garden in 2009 (in black and white to emphasize urban brutalism).