We continue our special series highlighting grower’s experience of using coir with Kay @brook_cottage_. With a love for growing a mix of flowers, fruits, and vegetables, Kay tells us why coir pots, coir yarn, and CoirCoins are some of her favourites. A firm believer of living in harmony with the environment, Kay also talks about what sustainability means to me and how that’s a key factor that makes her keep coming back to CoirProducts.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your gardening journey
I’m Kay, I live in West Wales, and I’m 50. I have a home garden where I grow a mixture of flowers, fruits, and vegetables. It’s a very rustic style garden – quite cottage-y. But I tend to go with the flow and let nature take over. I first started gardening at my house six years ago. I had a bout of ill health, and had to give up a business I ran upcycling furniture. So whilst I was recovering, I had my husband encourage me to get out into the garden. The first thing I did was create flower beds and then the garden just evolved from there.
When did you first come across CoirProducts, and what drew you to it?
I first came across coir about four years ago. I’ve always been interested in gardening sustainably. I’ve never been a fan of plastic, I try to use as little plastic as possible. In fact, there’s probably no plastic in our garden at the moment. So this was an ideal product for me. I love something that is natural, and I love something that the wildlife will approve of. I often find ladybirds and other insects in the coir pots which I think is great.
What CoirProducts do you use most often, and what do you like about them?
The CoirProducts that I probably use the most – although having said that, I use all the products – are the coir pots, because they are just great. They are natural, and fit in really well with our garden. I like the fact that I can plump them into my flower beds if I need to. If I don’t want to disrupt the roots, then they’ll just break down. They are biodegradable. I also love the coir yarn, I use that a lot. It’s great for our outdoors, it’s super durable. I find if I use string, it just breaks down pretty quickly.
Do you have a favourite crop or plant that grows particularly well in coir?
The things that probably grow the best in coir for me are sweet peas, because I find that coir retains the moisture a lot more and sweet peas tend to love a lot of moisture, so they work out quite well for me.
I absolutely love the CoirCoins too – I sow all my seeds in CoirCoins. I find that that’s the easiest for me, because I’m not the gentlest person with seedlings. As soon as I see the roots coming out of the CoirCoins, I’ll either put them straight into a pot or I’ll put them straight out into the garden, and again they break down, so that means there are no root disturbances, which suits me.
What does sustainability mean to you in your gardening practice – and how does coir fit into that? Additionally, what keeps you coming back to CoirProducts?
Sustainability means a lot to me. I always try to live with the environment in mind. I buy clothes from the charity shops, I encourage my children too, and my daughters do. I don’t like mass-produced things, I just don’t think it’s very good, and we’re quite a throw-away society now. I like a product that is sustainable, and I know is in harmony with the environment, and with coir, I know it will break down in my garden, and feed nature, which is great. I will keep coming back to coir because it’s a great product.
In a world where every choice we make ripples through our planet and our personal sanctuary, your garden deserves more than the ordinary. It deserves
We continue our special series highlighting grower’s experience of using coir with Kay @brook_cottage_. With a love for growing a mix of flowers, fruits, and
