Things that make me smile

Every now and then I come across something really wonderful which gives me hope that the way human beings view the world is changing.

Last week, as I cycled past a mother and her child, she reached up, plucked a fistful of cherries from the tree above her head, and gave them to her son. His face was a picture of delight. Sometimes simple pleasures are hard to beat.

Simple pleasures such as the discovery of how easy peas are to grow on a balcony and how delicious they are to eat skins and all. And how young pea plants make fantastic salad.

Then, on Friday night I was called by a Camden Council officer to tell me how our new policy to encourage food growing is going. An officer giving me information that I haven't prised out like a dentist pulling a deeply rooted tooth - that is so rare that I almost fell out of my chair. What's more, instead of telling me why the Council CAN'T do what I've suggested, which is what most officers tell me, what he had to say put a big smile on my face.

The council has nearly finished mapping potential food growing sites using satellite technology. Meanwhile residents are suggesting new food growing sites every day. Interestingly the two don't always coincide. No matter - it all adds up to a huge increase in food growing potential in Camden.

In return, I was able to tell him that Hampstead Heath is to have some food growing demonstration sites and that the old orchards in Golders Hill Park are to be replanted following a meeting I had with the Chair of the Hampstead Heath Management Committee. There is even an aspirational goal to introduce, or rather re-introduce, sheep on the Heath to replace mowers!

Small steps in the right direction and all things that make me smile.