Our CoirProducts.co.uk Featured Grower this week is Dave (@our_tiny_garden). As scientists, Dave and his partner, Joy, often like to bring a bit of science to their garden! In this blog post, Dave spoke to us about how he started growing and what they love to grow. He also shared with us some of the environmentally-friendly gardening practices they adopt like reusing material and reducing waste. Dave also reflected on some of the most valuable lessons they have learnt through gardening as well as the tremendous benefits of growing your own. In a fast-moving world, he emphasised how they love that nature takes its time, and how being outdoors has a profoundly calming effect. Read on to find out all about Dave’s gardening journey.
Dave started growing on his own in around 2014 after moving into a flat on his own for the first time. Reflecting on this, he says, “it was ground floor, but had no garden. Outside the lounge window I cleared a small patch of space – painstakingly clearing thousands of pebbles by hand – dug it and added compost, and eventually grew peas and carrots.” He planted a small rosemary bush which is still there now, and is absolutely massive!
Dave goes on to add, “in 2016, Joy & I moved in together to a house with a little garden, and started our Instagram account that year to show our journey as we built raised beds and started growing. We moved in 2018 to a larger place, and took on an Allotment in late 2019, which is still very much a work in progress as we now also have two children to grow.”
Talking about what they are growing this year, Dave says, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, potatoes, aubergines, courgettes, squash, beetroot, peas, beans, onions, garlic, and probably more. “We’ve also just added some soft fruit to the allotment with raspberries, blackberries, blackcurrants, and redcurrants,” he says.
Dave shared with us their process of working with plants and some of the important things to keep in mind when starting out in the garden. “When you are starting out, I guess take it bit by bit – it can take a long time to get an area under control and make it productive. If you break it into small steps, you can celebrate each victory. If you expect to complete the whole, you risk disappointment if it takes longer than expected. Start growing a few things, and probably begin with easier, more reliable things (we still grow Gardeners Delight tomatoes every year because they are fabulous), and branch out over time as you have successes and gain confidence.”
He goes on to emphasise the need to research when it comes to getting to know your plants, soil, and the environment, “we are super lucky that we are both scientists, and Joy is a biologist, so we have a bit of an advantage! Knowledge is absolutely power – read and research and research and read. You can find out SO MUCH about almost anything in ten minutes on the internet.” One of the main things that Dave has learnt is that the community on Instagram is absolutely fabulous, adding, “we have had so much help from the brilliant people that we follow and that follow us.
Growing your own food can be amazingly environmentally friendly. “When you think of the carbon that it takes to transport all of that fruit or vegetables, often from other countries, versus the carbon it takes to transport a few seed packets, it just makes sense to do it yourself,” Dave says.
He added, “we try to use peat free products, and re-use products wherever possible – we never throw away plastic pots etc., they get re-used year after year. Any vegetables that we don’t eat ourselves are given to friends / family / others (we have left things on reception in a local gym before). We don’t use grow lights or heat the greenhouse, so we’re a little old fashioned, but we try to minimise the energy we are using. We try to eat seasonally – obviously with what we grow ourselves – but we grow probably <1% of what we actually eat, so we try to buy produce from the supermarkets that is in season in the UK and grown in the UK. The flavour is better, and the carbon footprint is usually lower too. We also try to rotate peas and beans around between beds, as legumes are nitrogen fixing, so they help to improve the soil as they grow.”
Dave shares his experiences of using coir products, “Part of our drive to use less plastic led to us discovering coir a few years ago, and we’ve been using coir pots for the last few years. Last year we started using CoirCoins too, and we’ve been amazed at the germination success that we’ve had. It’s peat free, plastic free, the roots can grow through…there’s so much to love! It’s brilliant to see new and innovative companies like this breaking through, with products that are easy to use, work really well, and are low impact too.”
Speaking about what they enjoy the most about gardening / growing, Dave says, in a fast-moving world, it’s watching and enjoying how nature takes its time. They also enjoy the sense of balance and peace that nature brings. “In almost everything in life we are pushed to speed up. From career growth to relationships to technology, it’s newer, better, faster constantly. Growing things happens in its own time. You can’t plant tomatoes out in November so they’re ready in March – everything has its season – and it can’t be rushed. We love that nature takes its time. However much you watch that courgette, it isn’t going to ripen any faster. However much you talk to that cucumber, it isn’t going to grow any faster. Something about that brings an amazing sense of balance and peace.”
Being scientists, it’s no surprise that Dave and his family also love to add a bit of science into our gardening! “A couple of years ago we did a fertiliser test where we planted the same variety of tomatoes in two growbags. To one we added fertiliser every two weeks, to the other we didn’t, and we recorded the yield through the season, and demonstrated a 30%+ increase in yield with the fertiliser. It was great to bring some of our scientific background into the garden!”
On the other hand, one of the main challenges is the massive difficulty in knowing whether you did something wrong! “When you choose a new variety, and it doesn’t do that well, why is that!? Was it something you did – too much water, not enough water, too much light, not enough light, moved it into the greenhouse too early or too late, planted it out too early or too late, was it the weather that year, the soil, or something else? There are so many variables that it can feel impossible to make any progress in really understanding what’s happening,” Dave says.
Speaking about other gardeners and growers who inspire them the most Dave says, at the moment, they are @shieulyb, @growingwithkaz, @themodestgardener_sa, @plot_37, @good_life_garden, @yourorganicpt, and @ambersallotment. He adds that they are mostly inspired by people that just “have a go”. “We started with very little knowledge, made and still make loads of mistakes, but we do it because we love the taste of sun-warmed tomatoes!”
Dave also shared some tips and suggestions, “If you are limited for space, grow up, and look for a return on your efforts! Things like old fashioned peas, runner beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, courgettes produce a lot of food for the amount of ground space that they take up, and for the amount of effort that you put in. Planting one carrot seed gets you one carrot, but planting one tomato seed can get you a hundred tomatoes!” In addition, he says, to look for companion planting, “when you grow certain plants together, they help each other out, and this can improve your harvests.” And he adds, “look up succession planting – this is something we have a long way to go on – but you can grow multiple things in the same space over the course of the year, so if you only have a small space, this can be a real game changer.” And, knowing the value of the Instagram community, Dave says, they are happy to take questions any time!
Growing their own has had a tremendous impact upon Dave and his family. “It has given us a happy place to go and spend time. Being outside, somewhere different, with the bees and the butterflies, has a profoundly calming effect. Watching the ants race around starts to put life into perspective, and there is nothing better than the flavour of homegrown veg.
It’s also super important to us that our kids will grow up understanding where their food comes from and how it happens. It’s amazing to be able to provide that kind of education to them, even on a tiny scale.”
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