As the weather is starting to change, this is the perfect opportunity to start planting in the garden.

I planted potatoes last year and they went okay. A mistake I made was that I didn’t water them enough and it was very hot last summer.

This year, I decided to get my daughter involved and although I don’t have a particularly big garden, we can still grow things so that’s what we’re doing. I remember when my ex-husband’s nephew was about five or so, he was asked where eggs came from and his reply was ‘Tesco’. The rest of the family thought this was hilarious and never bothered to correct him, he genuinely thought eggs came from Tesco. My daughter is five and I want her to know where our food really comes from. Also with the current Corona virus crisis, it’s something to do in the garden rather than being stuck indoors all day. Luckily, I had already bought supplies before the lock down so we were all set.

We started with the Strawberries and I have to be honest, I didn’t realise there were so many different varieties of Strawberry! Who knew! I stood there trying to figure out what I should be buying so I decided to buy three different varieties.

Planting them was pretty straightforward to do, especially for someone who isn’t particularly green fingered. And volia! We have planted strawberries.

Although, the tags state they can be planted in March, we’ve had a few nights of frost so I bought a fleece and covered the strawberries on the nights that were particularly cold. I felt as if I were tucking the plants to bed that night. LOL

My next project was to plant the potatoes. But I was doing it a bit differently to last year.

I had a plastic storage container where the lid was broken and wasn’t suitable for stacking but instead of taking it to the tip, I decided that I could use it for my potatoes!

Of course drainage is needed so I got my drill out and drilled some holes at the bottom. I collected the leftover plastic bits from the drilling and put them in a little pot which will be deposited in my ecobrick, don’t want that getting into nooks and crannies out in the open. Wildlife may think it’s food!

Then I set about filling the tub. I’m really glad that rather than sending something to landfill, I was able to utilise it in a different way. It may be not be how the professionals do it and my neighbours probably think it’s a little odd too but I don’t care. I like it.

I remember from last year how satisfying it was to be able to go into the garden whenever I needed potatoes and hope it’s better this year than last year.

The mistake I won’t make this time is to neglect watering these. I will check them everyday and report back.

If you’re interested in reading about what I’m doing to be greener, check out my blog and if you’re interested in signing up to my newsletter, click here, I promise not to spam you.