Updated: Feb 6, 2023
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Updated: Dec 12, 2021
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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:
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)
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.
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.
