Green Shoots Project

This project has been made possible through funds raised and donated by our Daisy Garland fundraisers and supporters.  We are enormously grateful to each and every one of them.

JUNE

Crunchy radishes, crispy salad leaves, succulent strawberries and tiny sweet tomatoes can only mean one thing...   Summer has arrived!  It's an exciting time in the garden with flowers starting to appear and lots of lush grown in the veg patch.  Bees and butterflies will be enjoying your garden too and they love a little pebble-filled saucer of water from which to sip and bathe.  

Let's see what our Daisy Garland Green Shoots gardeners are growing this summer...

Emily's mum tells us:  "Our green shoots radishes have gone bonkers! Found a few ready so Emily had some with her roast dinner! and our daisies and tomatoes are growing well too "

Great work Emily!   When you pick your next crop of radish you might want to give this keto-friendly recipe a try:  Garlic Roasted Radishes

"Lots of strawberries from the allotment today. Perfect for keto milkshakes and porridge "

Green Shoots has been great for the family, Bean's enjoyed playing with compost and organising us!  Even I've had a go, I've grown cauli from seed and I've been really impatient waiting to see them grow.

"Chloe really enjoyed being back in the garden the last few weekends. Her Green Shoots are coming on lovely since potting them up xx"

"Our wild flowers and garden updates..."

Nature is abundant with wellbeing remedies and you don't  have to be a master herbalist to benefit from them.  The act of caring for plants is, in itself, a peaceful, mindful experience - helping us to soothe stress, boost our mental health and refocus our minds.  

I spent some of last weekend re-potting a small handful of houseplants, including my avocado seedling which for several months has been happily growing away in a jar of water...  Just look at those roots! 

Little Miss Avocado, settling well into her new home 🥑

Mabel Gray, my much-loved lemon-scented geranium, was first in line to get a trim.  After taking several cuttings from some of the younger shoots (placed in a jar of water to root before potting up again later), I added the old leggy stalks and withered leaves to the compost bin. A fragrant treat for the little insects busily beavering away inside breaking down leaves and peelings in return for the following year's rich compost.

Next in line my trusty Spider plant (below left) who after 3 years in the same pot had become more than a tad pot-bound. 

Peace Lilies (below) are such graceful, easy-to-please plants.  After 5 years in the same pot I swear I heard her heave a sigh of relief as I moved her to a pot the next size up!   Job done and time for tea ☕️   Sara x

25 of the best house plants to grow according to Gardeners' World Magazine: CLICK HERE

How can plants help your mental health?  Click HERE to find out

Rosalind tells us:  "A surprise visit from my great niece involved ransacking the garden to create ’nature pictures’. So lovely to do this as my son would have eaten ever before we ever managed to make a picture #greenshoots"

Angela: "First tomato and red strawberry "

French marigolds are a brilliant companion for tomatoes, chillies, aubergines and peppers as their pungent smell helps ward off whitefly, greenfly and blackfly.  We're growing marigolds alongside our tomato plants this year and for an extra burst of colour, in the pot below, we've also added a purple petunia.  Basil also works as a good companion to tomatoes especially those grown in a greenhouse, as it attracts whitefly away from your plants and the smell from the basil leaves repels other pests too.    To learn more about companion planting please click HERE

Amy's mum, Julie, got in touch to say:  "It's very chilly here but someone is still very chuffed with the slow progress her plants are making. Very glad we bought our mini greenhouse last year! "  

A lovely message from Erika, who never fails to inspire us with her amazing growing skills.  Just look at those healthy crops, bursting with vitality and nutrition!   "A little update on our Green Shoots.We began to pick up our crispy lettuces, seeds of which I collected last autumn and they germinated beautifully.Same with peas. These are from the seeds of the last season and already produced some pods. They needed to be saved from the pigeons though..Cucumbers clearly want to break free from the cold frame but the nights are still chilly.  Our Lemon Verbena has really grown. Can't recommend enough this wonderful herb.  Cosy growing in the greenhouse tomatoes are getting flowers and chillies perked up a bit too. Happy Summer everybody! "

If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.  BUDDHA

Our first Daisy Garland grown Sweet Pea! We are so excited!   Hopefully the first of many 🤞  The scent is out of this world...

"Courgette flower we've had such horrible weather it's been lovely to get back out on the garden."  Francesca

Francesca: "Still trying to work out where to plant everything."

Lorraine:  "Flower press is working hard creating end of term gifts. "

JULY 

"Gethin’s green shoots are coming on, we have some flowers, courgettes are flowering, some very small cucumbers are starting too sprout. No flowers on the tomato plants yet but are looking healthy and sunflowers are growing well. Gethin is loving watering them and often takes his carers to see what he is growing, he’s proud of himself xxx"

"A little update from us….mini !! So tasty and Tilly was very pleased as you can see. She prepares them for us all with a Korean style dressing that’s a really quick pickle. Delicious! Thanks for the seeds.  Mary"    Reply from The Daisy Garland:  We'd love you're Korean style dressing recipe, if you're happy to share?

"Green shoots... First peas."  Well done Francesca! 💚

"A few for ’green shoots’. We finally have a flower on the tomato plant and a beautiful day lily. Daniel ‘helped’ harvest the radishes and the salad leaves, coriander, dill and carrots are finally taking off."

"Green shoots update…..Thank you The Daisy Garland for the seeds and inspiration. Love seeing Esme and Tilly so pleased with their successes. Happy people here!"

Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.  HENRY DAVID THOREAU, essayist

"Testing how far on the peas are too….very tasty but won’t be long until they are ready."

"Arlo loved his time digging up potatoes at the allotment this weekend "

With the warmer weather upon us don't forget to keep those little Green Shoots well watered.

Just wondering if anyone's seen Six Inches of Soil: a British independent feature documentary shining a spotlight on soil health and regenerative farming?  If you haven't you're missing something really special.  Click HERE to watch a trailer.  Sara x

Watch this space for more updates coming soon!