After having an allotment that I sadly had to leave, I was looking for other ways to grow my own. Our garden was heavily shaded by a neighbour’s enormous conifers, so growing at home was never an option.
Luckily for me, 5 years ago they removed them and my garden was suddenly flooded with fabulous natural light, so I set to work making a home veg patch. This has slowly turned into a fabulous patch with a herb garden alongside a glorious cut flower patch and a beautiful greenhouse.
I am a novice home gardener that likes to grow food to eat as well as flowers to have in the house. I am always amazed how many different choices there are when you grow from seed, and how easy it is to do it!
I love to grow organically and peat-free; I don’t use any chemicals in the garden. This sometimes means that I have to ‘share’ some crops with nature and it can be disappointing. BUT, last year I had a bees nest in my compost bin, which I took as the ultimate garden compliment! I do have slugs and snails too — the upside is we now have a hedgehog that visits the garden, so he takes care of those!
I look for organic, eco friendly, nature friendly feed and composts so I don’t harm the insects or animals that visit. To try and be a little more sustainable at home, I have waterbutts attached to all the downpipes, and for the shed and greenhouse there is some guttering that directs all the rainwater into large buckets underneath. I leave a messy corner by the compost bins, old twigs and wood alongside some pine cones for bugs. I never water my lawn, even when it’s super hot.
I feel honoured to be asked to be a PlantGrow Champion. They are a company that align so well with the way I grow: natural, sustainable and chemical-free, peat-free and organic. What is better than that?! Good for the planet and fabulous for our gardens!
The PlantGrow team are a welcoming family that really believe in the power of natural, peat free chemical free growing and I am so pleased to be a champion for them.
Claire
