Are You Ready For a New Growing Season???
🌱 This year I know I have plenty of seeds left and I wasn’t going to buy anything new to grow. However, I had The Organic Gardening Catalogue lying around from 2022. I had a sneak peek and dog-eared a few of the pages. No judgement here about dog-earing my 🐶 catalogue, lol!
And guess what, a new version had arrived in post for 2023.
💷 I’d love to hear from you what is your greatest weakness when spending money?
It used to be clothes, shoes, handbags and all of this stuff for me. I'm over it!
🌴 But, oh boy, when it comes to plants, herbs, trees, garden tools, compost and so on, I’m so WEAK!!!
👩🏻🌾 Yes, I know, I’m running out of space in my garden. Yes, I know it can cost a fortune if I have a shopping spree. Yes, I know I can only buy mini versions of trees as our garden is not big enough to accommodate beautiful full-size trees. However, every time I bought a mini version of a tree, I felt the same excitement though! I can't wait for my Cornelian Cherry to establish.
For me what is really special about planting trees is knowing they stay here longer than I will. They'll put smiles on the faces of our future generations, they'll provide home for 🐦 many animals including insects, arachnids, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. And of course, they will make me happy during my lifetime.
🍂 Trees shed their leaves in autumn, knowing spring will come to grow new ones. Endings will be followed by new beginnings. It reminds us to accept and flow with the change. Just like the falling leaves you have to let go in order to move forward, grow and heal.
💪 This year I was super good, I didn’t buy any tree (no space left for it I’m afraid). Last year I bought 2 Cornelian Cherries. One of them is a super baby. The second one is showing its first yellow flowers. I like to grow something which is not that common nowadays. In this fast-paced world, patience is not our greatest strength. Waiting patiently for my first Cornelian cherries to make some recipes with it, will help me to work on this weakness. Yes, I want it right now and it would be much easier. But there’s 🍒 something special when you see your tree fruiting for the first time.
🙏 Confession time!
😲 Yes, I placed an order! I will have to find more space for my new arrivals. Phew, it will be hard work to find permanent space for Asparagus and Kale. Did somebody say I like challenge?
❓ And what did I go for?
🌿 The first Asparagus from Seeds - Ariane F1
I feel excited! I’m Asparagus novice. Let’s see if I can bring any of the seeds to life.
🌿 Asparagus Crowns - Guelph Millennium
Estimated dispatch by the end of April 2023. Roll on April! If bringing Asparagus to life from seeds fails I have a plan B! Well suited to UK weather conditions. This Asparagus better like my garden then!
🌿 Cress
I always used to grow cress at home as a kid. It’s not my favourite though. I think it’s good to have a real variety in our diet instead of eating our favourite foods all the time. I can't recall when I'd eaten cress last time. I might be pleasantly surprised. My taste buds could change since then. Let's see!
🌿 Kale - Nero Di Toscano
I enjoy this particular type of kale in my smoothies and would like to have some staples in my garden.
🌿 Cottagers Kale
Check this out! A cross between a kale brussels sprout and purple sprouting broccoli. 👽 WOW! It sounds like an alien to me. I love trying new things and extremely hardy was the SELLER for me.
🌿 Baby Pak Choi
Why not try the baby version if you are impatient?! Yes, I'm going to practise my patience with Cornelian Cherries and a couple of years patiently waiting to establish Asparagus but I'm too impatient to wait for full size Pak Choi! How pathetic and hilarious at the same time! I know my priorities, lol!
🌿 Lovage
I’m sure I had Lovage before. Where has it gone? Did I kill it? Perhaps. Let's have another go, shall we?
🌿 Lettuce Salad Bowl Seeds
There’s never enough lettuce, right?! Because we have to share a part with slugs every year. 😂
🌿 Strulch - Mineralised Straw Garden Mulch
In fact I wanted to buy Seaweed Meal instead, but it was out of stock. I had Strulch before and it’s very handy during hot summer time. I’ll definitely use it again. But you know what that means, I'll have to do more shopping later on when Seaweed Meal is in! 😂
⚠️ And the usual trap at the end...
🛒 Would you like to add this to the basket?
Yes, I know I don’t need any tomato plants, I usually grow them from seeds. Yes, I have plenty of seeds left, which I can use. Yes, I know I have trouble with histamine and tomatoes are very high in histamine. If I eat a tomato, it’s usually a yellow one, which contains less histamine. But check this out, it’s only for 99p instead of £9.99.
Am I gonna add it to the basket? Hell yes!!! 🤣
🍅 Peat-Free Postiplug Plants - Tomato Plant - Veranda Red
Estimated dispatch: By The End Of April 2023
Roll on April!
✅ Conclusion
If you'd like to buy something, go for it and don't wait. I should have placed the order last year when I dog-eared the catalogue. Why? Because I really wanted the things and guess what, placing order in 2023 was far more expensive. Yep, in the current circumstances I can't see the prices dropping any soon. So do yourself a favour and place it sooner rather than later.
I think life can become quite dull if we don't try and experience new things.
🥕 So what are you going to grow this year?
Just ask yourself a simple questions
- What are you trying to achieve?
- Do you like something from the supermarket but the current prices are not allowing you to buy it? Can you try to grow your own instead?
- Are you willing to be patient and wait for a couple of months or years to establish a crop which will be cropping year after year? Are you more long term focused?
- You don't have a garden at all? How about starting with cress on your windowsill? Any herb grown on your windowsill will put a smile on your face. No more waste and you harvest exactly what you need.
😍 Life is about catching the micro-moments which makes us happy.
Ok, shopping spree is over now. HANG ON, HANG ON!
🍄 Did I tell you I bought my first Mushroom Growing Kit? It's a good project if you have 👶 kids. Honestly, who needs kids to get excited about this! lol
At the back you have step by step instructions. At the moment, my bag is soaking in
🥳 water overnight. And then we can get the party started!
You can grow it indoors but I think I'll take my chances outside. I'm running out of space on my kitchen counter. I have jars with sprouts there and I'm also fermenting some veg in a couple of jars. I'm not sure if I want to face my boyfriend's look when I put this box there too. 😂
🍄🌿 Talking about mushrooms, did you hear about Mushroom Plant? I was just planting some cuttings the other day.
In case if you don't like mushroom texture or can't eat mushrooms for another reason, this might be your alternative. And yes, I was reusing Xmas coffee cups (My boyfriend 🥤 has a weird habit of collecting them. It may be a driver thingy! Who knows?!)
But honestly, this is a whole new topic for another blog post! I gotta dash now! 👋
I hope it inspires you.🥰
Happy New Growing Season! Make it uniquely yours.
Let me know what you are up to!
From my heart ❤️ to your heart.❤️
