Plants By Post

Back in June, my husband gave me a gift voucher for a company called Rocket Gardens.  The voucher entitled me to a compact herb garden mini plant pack.  I didn't really know what it was all about, so just followed the instructions to redeem the voucher on their website and thought no more of it.

A couple of days later, I arrived home to find a cardboard box on the doorstep which said "Plant me, grow me, eat me" on the side.  There's nothing quite like coming home to a parcel, it's a bit like your birthday or Christmas, you can't wait to open it and see what's inside.  Quickly opening the box, I was met by a whole array of baby plants, all neatly  packed for transit.

As I carefully unpacked the plants, I could not believe the variety I had been sent.  I had expected some herbs and herbs I got, rosemary, chives, thyme, parsley, mint, sage, basil and marjoram to be precise.  Not only that, I got various types of lettuce, calabrese, cabbages and rainbow chard.  It was an absolute feast!  Well it would be when they had all grown.

I have to admit it did take a while to plant them all.  As there was far more than I was expecting, I had quite a job scouring the garden shed for pots.  The lettuces ended up sharing but I don't think they were bothered.  As well as the plants, which were all clearly labelled, there was also clear instructions for planting and care of the various plants.  You couldn't really go wrong.

I did wonder how well the plants would do, particularly with my tendency to forget to water for days on end in the summer.  The plants were really healthy though and all thrived, in spite of me.  The only problems I encountered were with the caterpillars which I have already mentioned in a previous blog entry.  Even now in the depths of winter, with a foot of snow recently, the herbs, cabbages and rainbow chard are all still flourishing in there pots on the patio.  The cabbages have made an amazing comeback having been stripped bare by the caterpillars.  Even the calabrese managed a small head despite having hardly any leaves.  I haven't had the heart to eat it!

Looking on Rocket Garden's website, www.rocketgardens.co.uk, you will see that they offer a whole range of plant packs suitable for the window box gardener to allotment gardeners.  All of the packs clearly show the number and variety of plants in the pack, as well as the space required for planting.

The pricing seems to me to be very reasonable for the number of plants and the quality.  Obviously it would be cheaper to by packets of seeds and grow your own from scratch but if you don't have the time or a greenhouse, Rocket Gardens offer the perfect solution.  I will certainly be using them again next year, so roll on the spring!

Container Vegetable Gardens

No matter how small your garden, even if you just have a window box, you can have a vegetable garden.  You can grow so many vegetables, particularly salads in containers.  I quite like growing mustard & cress, alfalfa and mung beans in dishes in my kitchen, as well as herbs on the window ledge.  They are all so easy to grow.  You just need to scatter the seed onto some wet kitchen towel in a shallow dish and leave them to it.  As long as you keep the tissue moist, you will have a harvest in a week or so.

Last weekend, I finally managed to get my potatoes in.  I am definitely a fair weather gardener.  The potoatoes could have gone in between February and April but it was too cold, wet and windy for my liking until last weekend.

Having bought the seed potatoes weeks ago, they have been sitting patiently in my kitchen, happily sprouting.  I think this may have been good though as someone told me you are supposed to let them sprout before planting.  Needless to say, I have no idea.

I grew some potatoes for the first time last year.  I always thought you needed a large vegetable patch to grow potatoes and then discovered by chance you could grow them in barrels.  I found a polypropylene barrel was available which seemed ideal as it could be easily stored when not in use.   The barrels have handles at the top so that you can shift them around and a flap on each side at towards the bottom which you can open to harvest your potatoes without disturbing the plant at the top.  The flap simply stays closed with Velcro.  I ran a copper band around each barrel to stop slugs crawling up to the plants.

Planting is so easy, you simply fill the bottom half with compost, pop in your seed potatoes with the sprouts upwards and then cover with more compost until the barrel is about 3/4 full.  One barrel can take 3-4 seed potatoes but I put 6 of the salad variety in as I figured the potatoes are smaller and will take up less room.

I was quite surprised at how well my potatoes did last year, despite me forgetting to water them half the time!  I don't even know what I grew last year, they were red ones, that's all I know.  One important thing I did discover last year though is that I am really allergic to potato plants!  Having spent an afternoon brushing past them on the way to the shed, I came out in a really itchy rash that nearly drove me mad.  When I went to the chemist for some cream, I was told that potatoes are related to Deadly Nightshade and can cause highly allergic reactions.

This year, despite the late planting, I am trying to be a bit more organised with the potatoes.  I have bought two varieties, Red Duke of York and Charlotte salad potatoes.  I can't remember which barrel is which but I will find out when I harvest them.  I don't think I need to know - hope not anyway!

I also tried my hand at growing some onions in plant pots last year too, which were quite successful.  For Christmas my parents-in-law gave me a wicker planter which I have decided to use for my Red Baron onions this year.  The wicker surround is partly decorative and also helps to keep the polypropylene liner in shape.  The liner is split into two sections, so you could grow a couple of vegetables in them.  Again, when not in use, the planter just folds down flat for easy storage.  Each section measures about 45cm square, so it does not take up a huge amount of space.  You could easily place it on a balcony or on a patio.

As the weather improves, I will be planting more vegetables in containers.  I will put some tomatoes in a grow bag, salad leaves in a hanging basket (away from the slugs!) and I may try some runner beans in a large pot too.