Our featured grower this week is Jane (@cottagebythetarn). In this blog post, Jane spoke to us about how she started growing and what she loves to grow. She also shared with us what she does to be more sustainable in her garden, and reflected on the feeling of satisfaction and pride that gardening brings. Read on to find out more about Jane’s gardening journey.
Reflecting on how she got into gardening, Jane says, “I’ve always enjoyed pottering in the garden, but didn’t start gardening seriously until my children were a bit older – I used it as time to relax.” Over the years, Jane says, she moved to houses where the garden has increased in size, adding, “this one has the biggest garden overall”.
Jane loves growing a variety of crops. She particularly loves growing dahlias and tomatoes, and has also planted seeds for a cutting garden. Jane also shared with us her process of working with plants. “I try to give my plants a good start by using a good compost, feeding them well and keeping them well-watered. If I’m growing something I haven’t grown before, I find information online or ask my neighbour who has great knowledge,” she says.
Much like many other gardeners and growers, Jane is also conscious of how the practices she adopts in her garden impacts the environment, and where possible, strives to use environmentally-friendly practices. “I don’t use any pesticides at all! I also encourage wildlife into my garden – there are lots of areas which are untouched with dandelions, weeds and long grass etc. I have lots of water butts collecting rain-water, as my potager garden doesn’t have a water supply,” she says.
This is also the first year that Jane has been using coir products, and so far, she says, her annuals are thriving. “I was amazed at how one block of coir could produce so much compost,” she adds.
Talking about what inspires her the most, she says, she finds inspiration from seeing beautiful gardens on television, in books, and magazines, and also on social media. Some of her early inspirations came from her dad, as she says, “my dad also inspired me from an early age – he loved gardening”.
Jane finds gardening particularly useful and rewarding. Reflecting on what she finds the most enjoyable, she says, “I love how it makes you focus on the job in hand, and the satisfaction of knowing you’ve made a beautiful garden.” Gardening has also benefited her in numerous ways, particularly as she says, “it’s the satisfaction and feeling of pride that you can feed your family on what you’ve grown – and knowing that you haven’t used any nasty chemicals.” On the other hand, she finds kneeling down the most challenging of all the gardening tasks!
She urges other gardeners and growers to take a more organic, hands-off approach, without using artificial products, adding, “let nature help you.” Most importantly, she says, “just to enjoy being in your garden, and make sure to step back and feel proud of what you’ve achieved!”
CoirProducts’ newly introduced all-purpose coir potting mix, Coir Plus, not only brings you thesustainable goodness of coir, but also comes enriched with NPK (Nitrogen, Phosphorus,
In a world grappling with food insecurity and environmental degradation, sustainable gardening practices continue to play an important role. With an array of eco-friendly gardening
