Hello, a little while ago Jane Kelly from Jane's allotment invited me to join in
her 5 in 5 challenge and that's five gardening tips in five minutes.
I'm Liz Zorab and this is Byther Farm.
So I'll set a timer going and we'll start now!
So my first tip is to dream big,
let your imagination run wild, think of all the things you want in your
garden and all things you want to grow.
But start small, so start by creating just a small area or one raised bed and
just concentrate on one space at a time. Get that how you want it and then move
on to the next one and that way you won't feel like you've bitten off more
than you can chew.
Get brave and experiment and try new varieties or completely new things that you
haven't grown before.
This runner bean has a variety called White Lady which I
found about 20 years ago and I absolutely loved it and I've grown it every year.
But I still experiment with trying other varieties to see if I like those as well.
And as part of that experimenting I grew borlotti beans. So I hadn't tried
these until about three or four years ago, they're amazing, they're absolutely
lovely. I love the taste of them and I have grown them, well I grew so many of
them in the second year that I didn't need to grow any last year, so I've grown
some more now and I'll continue growing these, but if it wasn't for experimenting
I would never have found them.
And to add to my collection of extraordinary
vegetables I've just harvested the first jumbo pink banana squash, which is still
fairly yellow, but as it ages it looks more pink.
And it's....it's huge!
It's also worth saving your own seeds. So save seeds from
year to year, it will save you money. But not only that, these seeds will have
become acclimatize to the local conditions here. They'll be stronger,
they'll be sturdier, they'll be more resistant to the local conditions.
But you can also take cuttings, layer plants and divide them. Whichever way is keep
those plants that you really like going.
And don't be afraid to ask for help, whether that is advice on how to grow
something or whether you want to have a piece of somebody else's plant.
Gardeners by nature tend to be very generous, so if you said I really like this (what we've
got here) penstemon, is there any chance I could have a cutting? Many gardeners will
just happily give you a cutting to take home and grow on for yourself.
Ill put this one in a pot.
And cuttings of a white climbing rose, these were given to me by
my friend Jane, so she took these cuttings.
And lastly don't forget to
spend a bit of time in your garden just enjoying it, not working in it,
appreciating the beauty that's around you or how productive your space is.
You just have a little bit of time with you and nature and relaxing.
If you're enjoying this video, please give it a thumbs up or leave a comment
and if you haven't done so already, please consider subscribing to the channel.
And the final part of Jane's challenge is to tag three more channels to join in.
And so I'm tagging Erica at Erica's Little Welsh Garden,
Geoff at Brimwood Farm and Rose over at Wholesome Roots
And if you're not familiar with those channels or with Jane's,
I'll leave the information in the description below. They're brilliant channels
it's really worth checking them out!