Everything I am Growing This Year: 2021

Another year, another year to grow some amazing plants and hopefully a fair amount of food I can eat. I hope to grow some fruit and veg, which I will be keeping track off and a collection of stunning plants inside and outside to brighten up the garden. Gardening is a great hobby I would recommend with any eco conscious, wildlife conservative or green thumbed friends. Growing food is also a great sustainable hobby as it stops you taking more food, often with its unnecessary packaging and the food you grow is often more nutritious. It is a rewarding hobby with many benefits that anyone who wants to be truly sustainable should take up. I am trying to become more self-sufficient, which although I am a long way off the more I learn now the more capable I will be in the future, so stay tuned to follow my journey. Here is my growing experience this year:

Garden Supplies for Growing Vegetables: 2021

Food:

Although I enjoyed everything I grew last year I wanted to grow things that would be more useful to me and my partner. As well as grow my knowledge and experience with a variety of different fruit and vegetables. This year I have tried to focus on increasing the sheer amount of food per calories than I have before, so here is my plan.

Garlic:

I planted these in early November 2020 but most the work (watering) on them has been in 2021. All I have done is let their leaves grow out and kept them watered. They have taken a bit of a beaten due to the hazardous weather but I am excited to see what they will become. The plan is to harvest them between June and August, depending on how their leaves are looking.

Garlic Stalks in Small Garden Trough

Carrots:

Last year I managed to get a great result, they tasted and smelt incredible, easily 10x better than shop brought. Additionally, I found them fairly easy to grow. This year I have filled the trough with a rough 50/50 mix of sand and compost, made a small line about an inch deep (if that) and careful placed a row of carrot seeds. Last year I put to many in each section making many of them bunch up and a lot of thinning out, however, this year I made sure not to make this mistake. I was a little worried at first, as they took an awful long time to sprout but at last, their green shoots emerged, making me very happy.

Carrot Shoots & Purple Sprouting Broccoli in Large Trough

Tomatoes:

Tomatoes are such a versatile vegetable or fruit (I know it is debated) and can be used for salads, soups, sauces and sandwiches. Alongside this they are an easy to grow and a quick go to for anyone beginning to grow their own food. Additionally, they produce a great return on their growth and add a splash of colour to your garden. I have a large pot, which I filled with compost and planted my small cherry tomato plant in (In the centre below). As it got bigger all I had to make a rudimentary bamboo frame (I definitely need some work in this area) to keep up its support and waited for some tomatoes to fruit.

Yellow Courgette, Tomato and Blueberry Plants in Large Planters

Potatoes:

Potatoes are a staple in British meals and I couldn’t agree more from mash to jacket potatoes, there is always a use for these in our meals. Additionally, I am also aware how the potatoes offer one of the greatest returns, as well as having high calories for their weight, so I decided to grow 2 bushes. I had picked up a few grow bags, so all I had to do was plant a potato from my local super market, wait for it to start sprouting and placed it in a thick layer of soil at the bottom of a growbag. As it grew I unrolled the growbag and filled the soil to just under the leaves. I planted 2 and they created huge bushes that filled my garden turning it into what looked like a jungle.

Potato Plants in Grow Bags

Yellow Courgette:

I wanted another vegetable to grow to increase my knowledge, as well as my harvest this year. Therefore, we decided on courgettes. We picked yellow, simply because when we went to the garden centre the yellow version looked a lot healthier than the general variety. Once home I planted them in a large pot and gave it a good water. This again grew, creating amazing flowers, which turned into the many courgettes we harvested.

Yellow Courgette Flowering & Fruiting

Herb:

I have kept a small selection of herbs that I grow out each year, sometimes to add to our meals and sometimes to feed our rabbits. I don’t have to do much other than trim them back and get rid of the weeds. I keep them outside, occasionally give them a water and that’s all.

Sage, Thyme, Mint & Rosemary in Large Planters

Blueberries:

As part of my goal to go self-sufficient I have been looking for an easy plant that can give me a nice fruitful return each year with little effort. I read that these can grow for 15-20 years, coupled with the fact that these are considered a super food (super beneficial for you) I quickly picked one up. Throughout the year I began picking some handfuls for a gardeners snack.

Blueberries Fruiting Close Up

Garden Plants:

I have continued my goal to grow some beautiful flowers to help the bees but also to give my small little yard a splash of colour. I am also trying to grow a number of plants that peak my interest, some that are already within my garden and others I hope to grow out for my future home. Here are just a few of them:

Abies Koreana ‘Kohout’s Ice Breaker’:

A new addition to my garden, I saw on my holiday and instantly thought it looked amazing, so I quickly scowered the internet and picked up two. I think they are such unique looking plants and I hope to create quite a feature of them in my new house.

Abies Koreana 'Khout's Ice Breaker'

Clementis:

Again as the year before I cut this back late winter and let it shoot grow upwards onto a little wired frame I webbed together onto the fence, which as you can see flower into its beautiful bouquet.

Clementis in Full Bloom

Acer (Japanese Maple):

I have always found these miniature trees incredibly beautiful and think they make a garden look exotic, ancient and colourful. Therefore, I have picked up two, one green I believe called emerald lace and another red. Both I got very cheap and hope will become a lot larger than their current few twigs for my future dream garden.

Monkey Puzzle Tree:

Me and my partner picked this up a fair few years ago as a tiny plant. We have grown it out into several pots up to the one it is in now. It is really now starting to get some size, so we might have to plant it into the ground soon but I hope it settle into it current pot before we move it into our next house.

Monkey Puzzle Tree

Rose Bushes:

These bushes came with the house and always manage to bloom covering in roses. Unfortunately, I saw a tremendous amount of aphids clustered around, which I am sure without due care and attending would have possibly ended both my rose bushes. My method to get rid of them is to fill a spray bottle with some water, put it on the single stream sharp mod and spray them off. If I do this for a couple of days it seems to get rid of them. I rarely do anything else but occasional give them a sprinkle of water and always get beautiful results.

Bright Roses Blooming

Let’s Grow!

I would certainly say that I learnt a lot this year. I am definitely the kind of person that learns more by actually doing than reading, although I do believe I have to do some things several times for those lessons to sink in (sorry to the plants I have killed), I am incredibly happy to start learning now. I have really focused on growing some food this year but also grown my collection of plants, which I am excited to embed into my future landscaping plans. I definitely need to get a bigger garden, which I will keep you updated with and all the food I grow. I will have another post about all the food I managed to harvest this year but let me know what your growing goals are this year.

Everything I Grew Last Year: 2020

This was my second year in my own house allowing me to grow anything I want in the space I have, which is quite limited. I wanted to start of easy due to still sorting out bits, moving into the house and getting everything set up that has taken a long time. However, I still grew a fair bit for my little garden. I have always wanted to grow a number of unique plants, as well as my own fruit and veg to eat. However, I still have much to learn, so I am trying out new thing and love sharing my progress with you. So here is all the fruit, veg, herbs and other plants I grew, ate and enjoyed caring for in 2020.

Food:

One of my main goals throughout the year was to grow as much edible food, as possible. I have always loved the idea of being somewhat self-sufficient and although I will not be anywhere near that with the size of my garden I still hope to grow some delicious fruit and vegetable to eat and learn what works for the future, so this is what I have decided to grow:

Strawberries:

This is a sweet summer favourite of nearly anyone in the UK. I thought I would start with a few of these sweet treats in one of my hanging baskets. I have three different types of strawberries two British and one French to see how they grown and if there is much difference. They all did well but the British variety defiantly faired better, I assume due to the fact it climatises better to our weather.

Fruiting Strawberries in Wall Planter

Carrots:

Although I did not have a full sized planter, I did manage to get my hands on three small troughs that I planted two rows of carrots. I created a mix of soil and sand, so the carrots could grow easier and watered regularly. As they sprouted and gotten larger I have thinned them out by repotting them into the third planter. We got a decent number of carrots from this but I believe the planters were too small to allow the carrots to properly grow.

Carrot Shoots in Small Troughs

Tomatoes:

Tomatoes are the quintessential gardener food of choice and the first point of call for anyone wanting to grow some veg.. They are easy to grow, incredibly rewarding and can produce a huge amount of food, I have three tomato plants in a single grow bag with a bamboo support frame, with garden twine between them to support the heavy fruitful tomato growths. One thing I have learnt was not to forget watering them, seeing these plant droop so low like a sulking child is saddening, so it is a every evening job and sometimes in the morning too.

Three Tomato Plants in Growbag

Potatoes:

I wanted to grow potatoes, as I believe they would give the highest return in nutritious value and volume. It is also one of the most versatile vegetables that can be used for a number of things on your dinner plate. I have a small garden but still wanted to get as much out of it as I can, so seeing these grow bags in my local garden centre and quickly berried a sprouting potato. The amount of foliage this plant sprawls out is outstanding and really indicates a large return.

Potatoes Growing in Growbag

Herbs:

Additionally, I am growing a number of herbs that can be added to loads of dishes and be used to feed my rabbits. I have some outside permanently and the others growing in the windowsill. They are useful and provide a great aroma whenever I walk by them. I don’t do much to upkeep them, just keep them watered and occasionally pull out any weeds that manage to join my herbs. Here are the herbs I am growing this year

Thyme, Oregano & Basil Grown Indoors

Indoors I am growing:

· Basil

· Oregano

· Thyme

Outdoors I am growing:

· Thyme

· Parsley

· Mint

· Sage

Flower:

My main goal, whilst trying to make my garden look nice and colourful was to help the bees and other pollinators, so I tried to ensure the plants I picked benefited them and their efforts to collect nectar and pollen. I won’t mention all the flowers growing in my garden, you can look at some of these through scowering my social media. However, some of the key flowers I grew are:

Clementis in Bloom

Clematis – It came with the garden when we brought it and it comes up beautifully with more than three dozen flowers each year. All I have to do is provide a little wire for it to climb up and keep it well watered.

Dahlia – After seeing these in a number of gardens I was keen to have them in mine. I have been told these are difficult to grow, especially in pots, so I decided to give them a try, although I did get it to grow unfortunately it wasn’t the grand Dahlia I was hoping for.

Senetti – Me and my partner saw a beautiful bunch of purple Senetti at the garden centre and could not leave it there. After picking it up we put it in a larger pot and left it to its own devises. It was clearly a good choice as the bees seemed to love them.

Roses – We have a couple of rose bushes at the back of my garden, again, I don’t have to do much other than water them regularly and ensure my rabbits don’t try to eat them. However, each year they flower nicely for the local insects to enjoy.

House Plants:

As mentioned above this is my first year in my own house and I am trying to grow as many things as possible. This is because I enjoy the site of them and think they are incredibly beneficial for the environment and my household. They provide tremendous benefits mentally, cleaning the air and a tool to learn from in one of my bid to grow a nice collections of plants. I won't be able to name them all but some of the ones I got this year:

· Pilea Peperomioides

· Snake Plant

· Fairy Washboard (Haworthiopsis Limifolia)

· Dracena Fragrans

· Calathea

· A couple of cactuses & succulents (sorry, I don’t know their names)

Collection of House Plants

For Fun:

Further to the above, I also thought it would be a bit of fun to have a little competition between myself ad my partner. So on top of everything we decided to grow some sunflowers. We picked up a giant variety to see how well we could do and who would come on top. We had a lot of fun watering our own plant, carefully putting them into larger pots to see who would get the largest one. It is also a great flower for the wildlife, we saw tons of bees on them and when they had finished growing you can either use the seeds for yourself or leave the heads out for the birds.

Garden Tools, Plants & Soil

Finally

My garden is quite small and I am still learning a lot about growing both indoors and out. However, I am still managing to grow a lot and having a lot of fun doing so. I hope to continue to grow more and learn about how best to grow them and when. I already feel like I have become more akin to gardening and growing food, which I hope to develop to increase my return in the food I grow year on year. I also hope to grow more flowers and other plants in my garden to make it look nice but to also help the hopefully growing wildlife in my backyard. I am just starting my journey into gardening and growing my own food but I hope to learn plenty and develop my skills for the future. I would love to hear what you are growing this year, so let me know in the comments or by tagging me in your pictures on Instagram, twitter or Facebook.

My Experience Growing Sunflowers!

I am sure as kids most of you would have grown sunflowers, usually amongst your friends or siblings to see who gets the biggest or tallest one in a fun, friendly and environmental competition. Sunflowers are easy to grow plants that can easily dwarf most people by growing on average 6 to 10 feet. Here I will go into facts about sunflower, how to grow them, why you should grow them and my experience with growing them. So whether you want an interesting and unique plant to grow, an environment friendly hobby or just a healthy competition, then please read on.

Close-Up of Sunflower with Bumble Bee

What is a Sunflower?

Sunflowers botanical name is Helianthus, which has nearly 70 species within it, the most common of which is called Helianthus Annuus that is grown for edible oil and seeds. However, for the back garden as you are probably growing them for their enormous size you might want to pick up sunflowers with the names ‘American Giant’ or ‘Skyscraper’. Getting your hands on sunflower seed is easy and you can obtain some at most garden centre and many other stores also sell them in the spring. As I mentioned above there is a variety of different types, so get one that you like the look of.

Four Large Sunflowers

Reason to grow sunflowers:

There are many reason why you should grow sunflowers but if you need a little inspiration, here are the most common reasons:

Sunflower Side view

• Bees – Sunflowers are a hot spot of nectar and pollen, both crucial in helping the bees.

• Ease of growing – They are incredibly easy to get them to sprout and grow making you feel like a successful gardener.

• Looks – I think everyone agrees that sunflowers look magnificent & spectacular.

• Seeds – Sunflower seeds are a healthy tasty snack, very nutritious and many of your local animals and wildlife will eat them too.

• Environmental – Alongside all other plants, sunflower help to reduce the carbon dioxide we omit.

• Competition – It can be an incredibly fun competition!

How to grow sunflowers?

Here are the key things you need to know to grow your sunflowers:

• When should you plant sunflowers? You should always check your sunflower packet but most are often sown mid-April to end of May. However, this can be started earlier in a green house.

• How often should you water your sunflower? These are watered more often than other plants. The soil should be constantly moist. In the height of summer they should be watered daily. However, you may be able to get away with less than this if it rains and remains cool.

• How long do sunflowers take to sprout? Usually, they will sprout in 7 to 10 days.

• When do you plant sunflowers in the ground? You should plant your sunflower when the first true leaves appear (these are the second set of leaves).

• How long do sunflowers take to reach maturity? They can reach maturity in 80 to 120 days.

• What conditions do sunflowers need? They need to be put in full sun and well-draining soil, which can be Improved through manure and compost to ensure good growth. As mentioned above ensure they are watered regularly.

Hosepipe Watering

Here is my sunflower experience!

I decided to plant some sunflower for a bit of healthy competition with my partner and to see how easy it is to grow them (spoiler: It is incredibly easy) by following the key guide above. Here is my timeline from planting the seeds to a whopping 7 foot sunflower.

Sunflowers Sprouting

• 25th May: I planted the seeds into small pots with a small amount of stones at the bottom to help with drainage and your standard multi-purpose compost.

• 1st June: In just 7 days they had already begun to Sprout.

• 17th June: Even though they are small the sunflower true leaves (Second set) had emerged. This meant they could be repotted but I decided to wait until they were slightly bigger and better established.

• 23rd June: The sunflowers continued to grow at a rapid rate and their true leaves had fully come in. I then re-potted them into individual larger pots.

Sunflowers Growing in Planters

• 2nd July: I dug a large trench at the back of my garden, which was in full sun and put the sunflowers in. Whilst digging up the soil I got rid of as many foreign object as I could and mixed in a bit of multi-purpose compose. Although it is recommended to plant them two feet apart I was a little short of this, due to space and only separated them about a foot apart (Don’t worry they still grew). I then staked them in place with bamboo and twine.

Sunflower Planting

• 20th July: As the sunflower continued to grow and summer fully came in I de-weeded the area and twined higher up the sunflower and bamboo to ensure they would not collapse.

Birdseye View of Growing Sunflowers

• 28th July: The spectacular heads of the sunflowers had started to emerge with one completely flowering. I also continued to de-weeded the area to ensure maximum growth.

Four Tall Sunflowers

• 10th August: All the sunflowers were flowering.

• 20th August: All the sunflowers had completely flowered and seemed to reach the end of their life. I decided to leave them for another week to let the bees collect the pollen and nectar.

Fully Developed Sunflowers

• 28th August: The beautiful sunflowers lasted for a little bit longer but today I harvested their heads. I picked of the seed and laid them on the bird table for the birds of course. However, I have seen many people just leave out the whole sunflowers heads or pin it to a wall or post for the birds to peck at. Alternatively, you can dry them out to make a snack for yourself.

Four Large Harvested Sunflower Heads

Overall, as you can see the sunflowers from seed to harvest was around 90 days, which isn’t that long at all. The reasons you should grow sunflowers are to help the environment, because it is a beautiful plant and provides a fun competition. They grow at considerable speed for plants making growing them visually exciting. The benefits to the bees are tremendous and the seeds are an added bonus for a healthy snack or to feed your local birds. I hope my recommendation and method for growing my sunflowers worked for you and you decide to grow a few of your own. Anyway, I would love to see how tall your sunflowers got, so make sure to send me a picture on my social medias with #growthesun or #sunflowercompetition and tag me in it.