First of all, I would like to apologise for my last heading.  I wasn’t expecting an actual storm!  I hope you managed to survive it well with no harm coming to your gardens.  (Although I was secretly hoping for snow photos from our southern gardeners!) It was pretty wild and chilly in my garden.  A couple of days there, I didn’t even set foot outside at all!

Today’s tips aren’t really growing tips but more a look at what we are doing as gardeners and what place this takes in the world.

Today is International Fruit and Vegetable Day to encourage people to eat their 5+ of fruit and Vegetables a day.  I think as gardeners this is almost a given, although right now my family are eating more than 5+ a day so I can evict lingering winter crops to make room for more exciting summer ones.

To go even further into this The UN declared 2021 the International Year of Fruits and Vegetables.  The aims of this are to raise awareness of the benefits fruit and vegetables bring to health and nutrition.

The key messages the UN want to share across the world are:

Innovate, cultivate, reduce food loss and waste 

For home gardeners we may not have fancy technology for world breaking innovation but in our own gardens we can be creative to find out what works best for us.  And you don’t have to ask us twice to cultivate and grow things, but maybe we need to be more responsible with our gluts and reach out into our communities and share our harvest with those who need it most.

Foster sustainability 

Gardening is such a natural act, but there can be a lot of clutter that goes with it.  It is always a good idea to look at what we are using in our gardens and ask ourselves if it could be done more sustainably.   Even if it is just cutting back some to of the plastic that ends up in the garden in so many ways from pots and labels to windbreaks and cheap tools.  The Royal Horticultural Society in the UK has made a commitment to sustainability and want to ban all single use plastics in their gardens – along with a whole range of other environmentally caring actions, so maybe I should look at what I use in my garden.

Growing prosperity

Now this is something we all know – it can certainly improve our well being but for many, being able to grow their own food isn’t a hobby – it is about food security.

Harness the goodness

Fresh is best in terms of flavour, but also health benefits it can bring and in these strange times a strengthened immune system is an added benefit.

Live by it, a diverse diet 

This is to encourage the benefits of 5+ a day but give a gardener a wide choice of seeds in spring and in a few months 15+ or so will be jammed into our daily diets!

Respect food from farm to table 

This is a good reminder that food is fragile and not everyone gets to experience it as moments old.   Sharing this delicious pleasure with those around us may improve the way other people view vegetables and not just something kids are forced to eat.

As a gardener I feel privileged to be doing something the UN has deemed worthy enough to declare a year dedicated to it.   Along that same vein I’m also delighted to see Yates embracing food security issues this year with their National Gardening Week and encouraging gardeners like us to share our harvests with those who need it.  If you haven’t checked that out, you can find out more >HERE<.  

In my garden my favourite product right now is Thrive Camellia, Gardenia & Blueberry Plant Food because I have been through some trials with my blueberries.  Just as they were giving me a fabulous harvest for the first time ever in my old garden – we moved.  Then in this garden they have suffered a couple of goat attacks and howling salt laden winds.  This season we put up a wind break and things are looking promising so they are getting all the love I can throw at them, which includes a food with everything they need. 

I hope you find this interesting.

Happy gardening and as always – if you want to get in touch leave a comment below.

Sarah the Gardener  : o)

Sorry this one is a bit long – but it’s a worthy topic and certainly food for thought.