Growing your own veg not just for the green-fingered
- Source: The List (Issue 655)
- Date: 21 April 2010 (updated 28 Apr 2010)
- Written by: Jonny Ensall
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Courgettes. Photo: http://themoderngardener.wordpress.com
The Editor's green blog
It's weekend catch-up time on the Green Blog, and yes, it did get dirty over the last few days. On Saturday I wandered, blinking, into the sunlight of my back-yard to see what I might be able to cultivate for myself.
I was pleased to find that I didn't have to take advantage of the www.wasteawarescotland.org.uk £8 compost bin scheme as some helpful neighbour had already got one installed. I plundered the spoils behind the little flap at the bottom to set up a growing spot of my own between what I would describe as a large spiky plant and a stout, boring little green shrub. Yes that's right, I am not a gardener.
Recognising this, and presumably worried about the safety of tall and spiky and short and boring, an elderly neighbour rushed out to make some enquiries about what I was planting. The answer was courgettes. A rather nice BBC video had explained the sowing process to me (available at www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/digin), but being far to busy to wait for something to germinate I just nicked a few from my green-fingered friend who had been tending to hers on a warm window sill for a few weeks.
My earnest neighbour, who seemed to know a lot about what I was doing wrong, advised that I both leave off planting my delicate seedlings until late May, when things had got a bit warmer, and planted them further apart – about 3 feet, rather than the tight formation I had been attempting.
In the end only one seedling stayed in the ground, mostly as an experiment to see if it could get a head-start because of the warm weather. Then I took the others back to my windowsill. Their time will come.
More: Life & style, Food & drink (Life & style), Play (Life & style), Blogs, Ethical, gardening, Green, Vegetables
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