…On our balconies, living rooms, window ledges, porches, gardens and allotments.
It seems we all have a bit more time on our hands and people are starting to try some new things, be it cooking, home schooling, learning a new instrument and of course – gardening.
Whether you’re a beginner or a well seasoned gardener, something I think is best is to prepare and get all of your ducks in a row before tackling a new interest, so I’m hoping this post will be food for thought for many.
The truth is – you really don’t need a lot to get started and there’s lots of items in the home that you can use to start growing your own.
Useful items around the home
Toilet roll tubes
Judging by the toilet roll crisis of 20 – I think there’s a good percentage if people who will have one or two rolls floating around.
The reason why I’m stockpiling these is because these make fantastic seed starters and are bio degradable.
You can see how I make toilet roll seed starters here.
Plastic punnets and containers
Punnets, plastic containers, ice cream boxes and anything that is capable of holding something is generally pretty useful.
Containers and boxes help you to organise what you’re growing and keeps the place tidy.
You can use empty punnets and mushroom containers to craft together little make shift propagators to help spur on germination.
Check out how to make these here.
Egg boxes
These are fantastic seed starters as these are cells that are already made up for you.
They’re made of cardboard so they’re bio degradable and are recyclable.
Eggs are something else that have been flying off the shelf, so these will surely be in abundance in the home.
It’s an optional thing to do when using these – is to puncture a hole in the bottom for drainage.
You can also use these to for holding your spuds to chit.
Pots of all kinds
Pots and containers are endlessly useful for a wide variety of uses, whether it’s for slug bins, holding plants or using them to make new labels.
I find that these are items in the home that are always about in one shape or form or the other.
Seeds, compost and labels
Probably the only things you need to purchase in this list.
Multi purpose compost is absolutely fine for any seeds you wish to sow. Most retailers tend to do a 3 for £12, or a 4 for £15 type deal so be sure to keep an eye out for something like this when trying to get hold of some.
And of course you need some seeds! I’m a little bit biased to growing your own, so all of my seeds consist of things that you can grow and eat – but to be honest – all gardening is good!
So grow whatever you want 🙂
Carving out your space
Making a conscious decision of where you’re going to start gardening is also very very important in my mind.
It can help determine what you want to grow and help figure out the optimum conditions for what you’re growing with regards to light, moisture and temperature.
Some plants grow better in the shade, some plants grow better in dryer conditions and so forth.
I’ve got this seed shelf, which I’ve never used before and I’ve been amazed at just how much heat can be generated – so much so, I’ve gotten into the habit of opening it up at the start of the day when the weather is nice.
You’ll notice the above doesn’t actually involve any gardening per say, but are all just small steps to help you get in the mindset for gardening with a considered, economical approach. Gardening is such a good hobby, and if you’ve ever flirted with the idea of gardening in one way or another, I would definitely recommend it!
I hope this post has injected a bit of inspiration, and I’d love to know your tips tricks and insights if you’re getting started – I’d also love to know if you’ve started gardening for the first time 🙂
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