Don’t forget your garden during winter!

It may still be bitterly cold outside, but luckily it is still bright as the sun is still shining. Other than an immediate mood-boost for us humans, sunlight’s great for keeping plants happy. Admittedly, you’d probably much rather stay indoors with tea, a warm quilt and watch ‘This Morning’ than venture into the garden to tend to some flowers, plants or vegetables. But, according to past studies, a sunny windowsill is all you need for plants to thrive. There is a range of tools and advice out there to help you grow plants, herb, flowers, and vegetables from the comfort of your own home. These tools range from make shift home equipment, ideal if you have time on your hands, and if not try state of the art hydroponics tools.

I myself am on my holiday break and all I seem to have at the moment is time! I started to knit, alas that did not last long. I now have one and half baby sock/leg warmer thing for my sister’s new baby. I’ve read book i own, walked everyday and cooked (i feel i am sufficiently padded out for the cold winter months ahead). Cooking is evidently by far my favourite new hobby so far. However, since it seems to be getting colder at record rates I considered how I am going to get fresh produce for my new found talent. Mobility may not be on my side for much longer, as i don’t drive and the shops are miles away and frankly boredom is setting in, hence why I have decided to grow my own veggies at home!

A simple recipe for growing tomatoes involves a yoghurt pot with a few holes in the bottom, some compost, three seeds and a bit of water. You can then fashion a greenhouse for your crops using the top half of a large plastic drinks bottle (and I don’t know about you, but there is something hugely appealing about the Blue Peter-esque way of recycling rubbish for this project). Keep your pot in the sunlight for a fortnight, watering every couple of days, and then remove the greenhouse when you begin to see some shoots.

The next stage is called ‘pricking out’ (don’t laugh) – easing out the strongest-looking four-leaved shoots from the batch and placing them in individual containers with compost in. If you still have the bottom half of that greenhouse bottle, this will work well; just make sure there are some holes in the bottom. After a few months, the seedlings should be tall enough (about 20cm) to be transported to their final pot, which could just be a bucket if that’s all you have to hand. With regular feeding and watering, and some organic fertiliser, you’ll have some lovely tomatoes in the summer.

Or, if compost isn’t really your bag (and let’s face it, who wants to do more cleaning than they have to, really), then fear not; the more lazy amongst us can actually cultivate plants without using soil at all. The system of course is hydroponics. This allows you to avoid the mess altogether, and let water do all the work. Apparently among the many benefits are a quick yield and the ability to use pretty much anything as a plant-pot, from a fancy vase to a fish tank. (Note: it should probably be an empty fish tank. Everyone else will probably be hugely impressed with your plant-growing skills, but any fish you have in there probably won’t be.)

I personally loved the initial idea of creating everything from scratch; you know embracing your inner creativity. Nevertheless, in reality I ended up opting for the easier option of hydroponics. The results are amazing; of course my husband will now be presented with tomato, red pepper and basil soup for dinner until the end of the year!