Melissa Morton, Garden Designer & Horticulturist: Grow food in your garden – for the family and pet guinea pigs too!

It was National Gardening Day on 14th April and what perfect weather we’re having to encourage us to spend time in the garden.

During the current Covid lockdown, I’m sure there’s plenty of children and families desperate to spend time outdoor. With the early issues of supply in the supermarkets, it made me think about ‘growing your own’ and ‘dig for victory’ during war times. Why not grow some supplies for our kitchen table? My son wants to grow food for our guinea pigs too, as we’re frequently buying bags of kale.

This time of year is perfect for sowing seeds. I don’t normally have much time to do this, but with staying at home, it’s been a lovely opportunity to sow them, and keep an eye on them for germinating, thinning out and watering as and when necessary.

There are lots of websites with ideas and I’ve found that Thompson & Morgan have a great blog: ‘Perfect gardens: tips for growing veg’. There’s some top tips from home gardeners on choosing veggies for a small garden.

And that’s definitely for our project here at the Morton’s home – as we don’t have a big garden. My 13-year-old son, Stanley want to grow veggies and herbs to feed our guinea pigs, Sushi and Jet. And we’ve created a small area in the back garden for him to grow his own. I’m hoping there’ll be some surplus for our kitchen and snacking too!

Stanley knows what Sushi and Jet love to eat, and so we’ve chosen to grow the following:

Herbs – parsley and fennel

Veggies – kale and chard

As we love snacking on peas, we’ve included those too.

For parsley, before sowing them, we soak the seeds in warm water for 24 hours. This softens the outer hard skin and could speed up germination which could otherwise take a few weeks.

Prepare your area you want to sow, by getting rid of weeds. Hoeing works for some, others need digging out eg Dandelions. Weeds will out compete your chosen plants and take up water, food in the soil and possibly light in the early stages.

Then you can prepare a shallow drill about 2cm deep, and then water this drill before sowing. Sprinkle the soaked seeds along the drill. If you’ve done plenty, then it doesn’t matter too much on the spacing, as you can thin the seedlings out as they grow and where they’re overcrowded. Any thinned out seedlings can be fed to the guinea pigs!

It’s worth noting that those pots of herbs you get in the supermarket are lots of individual little plants in the same pot.

We sowed the parsley a week ago outside directly in to the ground, and they’ve not germinated yet. We’ve sown them in a cooler shadier part of the plot, as parsley doesn’t mind being here. But will be slower to get going…

Peas (sugar snap varieties) we’ve sown direct in the ground and also in pots.

We’ve used 9cm pots and are planting 2 seeds per pot. The strongest seedling will be selected for growing on.

First fill the pots with seed compost, tapping the pot firmly on the base to settle the soil down, topping up the soil level if needed afterwards. We’re putting 2 seeds per pot, using a stick/dibber/bamboo cane to make a hole about 2cm deep. Cover the seeds afterwards.

For watering pots with seeds, I was taught to place pots in a tray of water and allow to soak, say for an hour. Then removing the pots once the surface is wet, allow to drain before putting the pots back in the tray.

The pots are growing on a sunny windowsill in the house and are starting to germinate already, after just 1 week! The ones in pots have been a back-up supply, in case the ones in the ground have succumbed to local wildlife. Any gaps in the ground can be filled with ones which are ready for transplanting at the end of the month.

Country Life blog has some excellent activities for children, especially for the little ones eg growing an egg head, creating a bird feeder and making rainboot planters.

For more help with sowing seeds try Thompson & Morgan’s useful guide to germinating seeds. It has been compiled by their own horticultural experts in the US and the UK, and is designed to both widen and enhance the pleasure and success you get from growing your own flowers and vegetables from seed.

 

Melissa Morton Garden Design helps homeowners fall in love with their garden again, creating gardens they want. As a professional Garden Designer, Melissa Morton believes the value of your outdoor space is as important as inside your home. I am passionate about creating gardens that are beautiful and bespoke to you, whilst ensuring the space sits harmoniously with its surroundings.

Whether you would like to create a haven for wildlife, an inspirational place for entertaining or simply an oasis of calm to relax and escape, I can help.

Melissa Morton offers a range of services from One-off consultations, to a complete design package.

 

www.melissamorton.co.uk
garden@melissamorton.co.uk
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