Unprocessing our Realities

We live in a world of processed foods and processed lives – conformities forced on us that often seem to detach us from the natural world all around. It seems we don’t have time to enjoy the rain and the wind; the colours of dawns and sunsets; watching bees, butterflies and insects going about their business; listening to birds singing; or appreciate the landscapes’ changing hues as the year unfolds; even seeing our gardens grow. Integrating technological changes into our lives is the priority, regardless of the impact on our mental health. But this consumes our attention, dividing us from the world outside and can create unwanted stress, despite the benefits. We are constantly encouraged to look inwards and forwards, when maybe, sometimes, we should also be looking outwards and backwards. Sadly, ‘processedness’ (new word!) has become the norm … but it is possible to shift the balance.

Part of my own small veg patch – a colourful and chaotic mixture of edible flowers, herbs, salad crops, onions, carrots, radishes and some small fruit too in an area that used to be a small lawn. Just a few of each veg … to eat at different times, keeping me immersed.

Growing veg can help to counter ‘processedness’ – even if just for short periods. There is something almost primal about eating what you have sown and grown. Tending a garden can be all-absorbing. It can transport you into ‘the moment’ – and the worldly demands disappear. It de-stresses; it unprocesses and brings happiness – all in a natural way. And, what can be more important than being able to feed yourself, your friends and family by your own hand, from your own garden / allotment / balcony container!

Veg planting on a large scale at @Gordonastleestate, where the large walled garden looks fantastic while also providing for the needs of the garden café kitchen

The photo below shows my first (ever) summer cabbage harvest – and was the star on my dinner plate 30mins after being picked

Close to my summer cabbages, I have a small row of broad beans growing, now almost ready to harvest. A great way to eat this easy-to-grow veg is to remove the beans from their shells and boil them for a few minutes until they soften. At this point drain them and rinse in cool water. Then, simply pop them out of their skins one-at-a-time, by squeezing at one end – a tasty addictive snack. Alternatively, once popped, drop them into a blender and make broad bean hummus as an alternative to using chickpeas.

My small broad bean crop, soon to be harvested. A second crop of spinach can be seen in front of this for successional harvesting and the summer cabbages to the right.

As well as enjoying home-grown veggies to eat, foraging can be worthwhile at this time of year. At the very least this means an hour or two out in the fields and forests – which is another great way to get rid of stresses without trying. A few days ago I found my first chanterelles of the season – enough for a tasty breakfast with scrambled eggs. The next day I went to another wood where I often find other kinds of edible fungi but the ground was too dry beneath the conifers. While there were no fungi, the air was filled with wafts of the scent of pine trees – walking amongst them was such a pleasure.

My first chanterelles of the 2025 season

However, I did find several wild cherry trees with a bumper crop of the sweetest cherries that birds had not yet stripped bare. So instead of a basket of fungi, I returned with a bag of tasty wild cherries. No supermarkets or huge food-miles involved.

Just a few cherries from a low-hanging branch

That’s why I also love foraging! (But please, please remember, some fungi are deadly poisonous. Only pick what you know!)

So if you don’t have a garden, simply try to get out into the countryside. Let nature lend a helping hand to strip away those stresses.

Happy Unprocessing!

The above Text and all Photographs are copyright of Wincenty (Wicek) Sosna. Please contact SeeHow (07939 226417) for permission to reproduce in any way, in part or as the complete text.

Wicek, now semi-retired, is an award-winning architect He is also a writer, horticulturalist and keen gardener and lives in Macduff on the dramatic north Aberdeenshire coast. He invented the unique SeeHow gardening book concept to actually show gardeners how plants and veg grow throughout the calendar-year. Because SeeHow books work visually, anyone can use them - from children to garden design professionals. Pictures really are worth 1,000 words!

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