Right, deep breath, give me a shove and off I roll....
My name is Mike.
I suspect that I a may be one of those rare beings who is very lucky to be working in a job that I thoroughly enjoy.
Around 20 years ago I fell head over heels in love with all that is green and natural and began work as a Tree Surgeon. I now own and run The Tree GP, based in Suffolk, alongside my friend and business partner, lets call him Mr C!
Now, whilst I do love a good tree and have spent years studying and working on or around them, this blog is NOT about those tall leafy things often found in forests!
This is not a Log blog! I feel you wince at that name but that was actually a possible contender for this here blog, that is until a friend made a rude comment linked to logs!
This blog has been born (or should I say "grown") as an outlet for my deep rooted and spiralling addiction......Gardening!
If I heard a yawn hangggg onnnn...Gardening is not boring!
Right now we are stuck in the middle of a massive life changing experience.
COVID 19 is here and for those of us that can or have to, we are staying at home.
Paint and tools have been flying off the shelves in our local D.I.Y shops as people prepared for the lock-down to begin and we finally have no more excuses not to get around to those household chores we've all been madly avoiding (sorry darling wife, too busy writing this blog to re paint the kitchen), but I have also seen Tom, Dick and Harriet wandering out of shops of late, arms bursting with trays of bedding plants and shoulders heavy with bags of soil, looking a bit dazed by their purchase, wondering what on earth they do now. Is it as simple as whacking it in a pretty pot and letting nature do its best?
The point of this blog is to share my passion with you all, mainly because my wife is sick of me talking about my next gardening job at home, but also because I figure someone somewhere might find something I say of some tiny interest!!
So without further ado, lets all retreat to, or take the first baby steps towards, creating our place of calm and safety, to nurture something of your very own, to produce food and flowers for yourself or simply find a little distraction and make your world a greener happier place right now!
A Gardening God, I am not, but I am a trier and we all know that god loves one of those!!
My simple aim is to attempt to pass on even a little of my enthusiasm to enjoy gardening, to help you grow your own food, to give you tips on how to put some colour in your garden all year round, to revive that favourite plant that continually struggles, even just to encourage you to go outdoors, give it a go, and make that back garden a happier place.
Weekly exciting Mike Fact: According to The RHS Garden Magazine April 2020 "Regular contact with the soil in your garden can boost your immune system and keep you healthier, by increasing your exposure to a variety of beneficial microbes."
Enough blithering. To the point, mike...
In the beginning....there were Seeds....
With the Sun finally daring to make an appearance these last few days, and the rainbow of colour appearing around us with the Daffodils and Primrose all out in bloom, I suddenly took a moment out of work and family life, removed a child (I have kids by the way) from clambering all over me and realised we must have finally inched out of Winter and popped into Spring. The start of new life!
So what better time to sew a few seeds.
Now my wife would say I am quite a simple being (I suspect that's an insult but I take it to mean I am low maintenance, and a joy to be around!), and this, backed up by the fact that I tend to buy ALOT of seeds, you won't be surprised to hear that I am not too fussy about where I buy seeds from! I am not really a big brand believer. I buy what I like the look of, what I can afford and what's available to me easily (I can't be fussed with fuss!).
At this time with so many shops closed and our freedom to go out and about limited,choosing your seeds may obviously be harder, so my advice would be just go for it. Use what you have OR buying online is currently still an option.
Not teaching grandmother to suck eggs, or however the saying goes, but just look on the back of the pack or read online as to when they recommend the seed should be sewn (I tend to vaguely stick to this. Sometimes I like to freestyle a tiny bit and might sew a week or 2 outside of these dates!) and choose what you like. Grow what you like. Simple as that.
My Tree surgery head forces me to mention, at this point, that the Tree planting season finishes at the end of march but fear not, there is much more out there just waiting to still be planted!
Think Vegetables. Think anything from the Brassica family i.e. broccoli, cabbage, sprouts. All the stuff kids hate!
Salad crops are ideal around now. They can be grown in trays and then planted out later down the line. Planting out is a whole other blog, if you can stick with me!
I am lucky enough to have a good size garden (not surprisingly that was my only stipulation when we house hunted 4 years ago!) and in this I have finally built my own green house, which I use for all my seed growing.
***Gardening doesn't have to be an expensive hobby where only the right tools will do, it is one of those brilliant activities where you can use your imagination to create outstanding things!
Alright clever clogs, when I said seeds only need sunlight and warmth, obviously that alone will not grow you your roast dinner veg. A few other things are also needed and I would say that the type of compost is key!
Over the past year I have become very interested in Organic gardening. I will never claim to be an expert, this is all just what I have learnt or found out through trial and error, and my own personal interest, but where possible, where "green" gardening is concerned, I am busy tweaking my approach to having a "cleaner" garden.
For my seeds I use an Organic Compost. This means that it is Peat free. Whilst peat IS a natural product and great for the garden there is not an unlimited supply of this in our world. It takes thousands of years for it to be formed so every time it is taken and used for compost it depletes the stores a little more.
At the moment I am using a Peat free compost made by 'Growise', which I find leads to good results with my seed growth. Obviously other brands are available and its about finding what you can afford and find successful.
It is really as simple as using a seed tray (this morning I put a plastic container from some mini muffins in the recycling that would have been ideal, as long as you make drainage holes in the bottom), fill it with compost, space the seeds out as evenly as you can, cover with a light sprinkle of soil and pat it down gently.
*Technically it is thought to be more beneficial to water from the bottom up, i.e. stand the tray in a larger container and fill that with water in order that the seed tray socks it up via its drainage holes, AND officially it should be tap water that is used as this is sterile, with less bacteria, and said to be far more beneficial to new growth, but I will tell you a Mike secret... When i'm feeling particularly adventurous, I break the rules! I use rain water AND I water from above occasionally. Don't tell anyone. ..and guess what...the seeds do grow! But that's our secret...you choose your journey!!!!!
It is also a great time to grow flowers at this time of year, but they can be trickier due to the fact that they need heat to germinate (still researching the exact reasons why on that!).
I love growing the flower "Cosmos".
I do this in the way that I have already described. Always in the green house, and more often than not to great success. It can't hurt to just give things ago. At best you end up with a beautiful flower or plant and at worst you have learnt to try it differently next time.
Give it a go.
Get something planted.
Start small.
Try a seed you have never dared before!
If it has inspired you at all to give it a go then why not delve into the wider world. Try listening to 'Gardner's Question Time' on Radio 4 or watch a snippet of "the Monty" on 'Gardeners World' on BBC 2. Both are very calming, which is ideal right now, and both have some really simple, basic but hugely helpful tips.
Remember, Gardening is about relaxing, having some fun and creating something with raw ingredients.
Producing colour and beauty in whatever space you have and even growing your own food. (it is also about getting away from the family when necessary!!)
Keep an eye out for the next exciting instalment on the life and times of a budding Gardener!!
You had me at log blog 🤣 thank you Mike. I often feel daunted knowing where to start in the garden, but I'm just going to give it a go with some seeds and see what happens!
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