Every so often, I find myself trying to explain why I write a gardening blog in my spare time. Why did I start F&F? As it’s coming up to a year since I launched this site, I thought I’d flesh out my answer a little.

It was when I bought a house with a garden two years ago that I realised I was a little different to a lot of other 21 year olds. Most of my friends thought growing vegetables and plants was the preserve of aged men on allotments, and mocked me accordingly. My extended family repeatedly asked me how on earth I knew what a witch hazel was. I was baffled: I’ve grown up loving gardening, and I couldn’t understand why this was any different to having a passion for games involving men throwing themselves around a muddy field or singing ‘Wonderwall’ tunelessly at an open mic night.

But I did have a pretty good idea why many of my peers felt alienated by the gardening world. Mugs with ‘head gardener’ written on them? Pastel-clad garden centres with ’spirit of the panpipes’ CDs playing? It wasn’t just that: there seemed to be some ridiculous notion that gardening begins at 30, when you’re settling down with a family and becoming all wholesome and grown-up. I don’t scorn anyone who meets the above description, but that’s not me.

Gardening really isn’t very difficult to get into: it’s just the culture around it that’s scary, and yes, I’ve ranted about this before. The gardening world that I know isn’t like that caricature either, but that’s the one that pops into my friends’ eyes when they call me an old lady for saying I’m picky about the varieties of tulips I grow. So why not write a blog which ignores all those silly stereotypes and showcases the gardening world that I, aged 23, know and (mostly) love?

And when I accepted my dream job in London, which meant I would be commuting for two and a half hours each day, I became even more passionate about writing this blog. After all, I had plenty of time to do so on the train on the way home, and I wanted to inspire graduates who, like me, loved the busy jobs they did, but didn’t have endless time to gaze at their gardens. Whenever I get a message from someone thanking me for explaining how to grow organic pumpkins, I realise that writing this blog in a carriage next to a snoring banker is worth it.

So there are no trugs or cheesy slogans on this blog. And even though I’m an organic, sustainable gardener, I’d hate to ever preach at F&F readers. I’m not writing because I’m after a book deal, or a job as a gardener, although there are some incredibly beautiful and fun blogs written by people who want those two things. In fact, I can’t imagine doing any other job than the one I do at the moment, which I am so incredibly lucky to have.

I write this blog to inspire, not to guilt-trip. It’s pretty easy – I just write about what excites me as a young gardener, and if every so often a couple of girls pick up some pepper seeds at the end of a long day at the office, then I’ll keep at it.