Mind your Ps and Ks

This slightly scruffy, potential-for-chocolate-box scene marks the spot where my lexicon of alphabet letters has suddenly expanded - who ever knew that the letters N, P and K stood for Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium? Yes, I've been fertilising! None of this taking DNA out of skin cells and injecting it back into ova to produce exciting new life forms; no, just good old organic allotment farming at an undisclosed London location.

Have you ever heard of green manure? This week I've discovered it's an organic way of ploughing back juicy elements into the soil - you simply grow a load of green stuff that looks like grass on the area to be fertilised and then turn the soil over and plough it back in. There it releases its powerhouse of goodies (like N, P and K) and will happily enrich the soil, lying in wait for seeds to be planted and joyful blooms to come to life in far-away Spring.

I never thought of the periodic table as an inspirational source for a writer, but now I come to think of it, it's jam-packed full of potential. All those letters representing the elements that constitute our life on earth; all those Ns, Ps and Ks making their way from the soil into the plant and into our mouths. Come to think of it, all power to green manure and glad we didn't opt for brown.