Summer/Autumn 2022 Flowers popping up everywhere on our allotment. Yesterday our sunflower unfurled her gorgeous petals... and today the courgette… Lily's mum said: “Cress been cut. Courgette re-potted. Sunflower seeds moved to bigger pots. Lily is growing the courgette for me as she knows I love them” Lovely pics from Amy’s mum who told us: "We had quite a lot of excitement yesterday - the first sighting of some teeny courgettes coming through!” Top Tip: You can start picking courgettes as soon as the fruits reach 7cm or the length from the tip to the base of your thumb. Roll up, roll up, and get your courgette and tomato plants here! 🌱 🍅 Isi and her lovely mum, Sarah, took it upon themselves to sell their excess green shoots to passers-by and neighbours, with all proceeds donated to The Daisy Garland. Busy Isi ! 🌱 Thank you Isi and Sarah for raising a whopping £158.67p. What would The Daisy Garland do without you! 💜 xx Keto mum, Julie told us: "Amy has picked her first courgette! She just couldn't wait any longer! I simply fried them in butter and she loved them! Her only complaint was she couldn’t have more." Nothing beats the taste of freshly-picked, home-grown vegetables! How clever of you to grow your own supper, Amy, from one tiny seed! Amy, you might like to try this recipe for Courgette Chips, kindly given to us by Chef Derek COURGETTE CHIPS Click here for the recipe: https://www.thedaisygarland.org.uk/courgette-chips TOP TIP: Rustle up a trowel and get handy with a spade and dig for Britain! Grocery Costs are up £380 this year as food inflation hits 8.3% (it is expected to rise by up to 10%) as a result of the war in Ukraine and supply-chain issues. You're not too late to plant radish, beetroot, spring onions, cabbage and spinach outdoors or to plant herbs and salad indoors. And if you can't grow yourself, then buy British to keep costs - and air miles - down. "Our Calandula are looking good! Planted some more today and also some salad seeds" Some bunny has spotted our courgette plants! Poppy's mum, Kat, told us "Highly recommend the cherry tomato plants if you haven't tried them before.... only have 9 plants and been getting this much (see below) a week for ages and more to come!" Let’s get composting!! What to do with all those veggie peelings and fruit stalks? I know! Let’s get composting! Children love it when things grow in the garden and composting is a great activity for children to get involved in. It teaches them lots about organic recycling and waste reduction. And by explaining that the compost is the food that the plants eat to grow big and strong is a very good place to start. Compost provides the necessary nutrients in the soil and also encourages bio diversity in the garden. Peppa Pig explains the concept of composting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PElbErayZg Our friends at Burgon and Ball have some fabulous composting tips to share: https://www.burgonandball.com/blogs/journal/waste-not-want-not-start-composting-this-summer Did you know that composting bins are available very cheaply from many UK local authorities; check www.getcomposting.com to see if the scheme is available in your area. We bought our compost bin from the council and we love it! It's stood in a semi shaded spot to avoid over heating the worms inside! Fruit and veg peelings, a few select weeds, inner tubes of kitchen/loo roll, newspaper, torn up cardboard and lots of other bits and bobs are added on a weekly basis. A few days with the lid firmly on and this will all rot down making room for lots more to be added as the weeks go by. Happy composting! Much excitement on the allotment this morning when we discovered our first baby pumpkin! They like lots of water, especially when the weather's warm. Am already flicking through recipes for keto friendly pumpkin soup... Courgettes springing up overnight! There was only 1 last time we looked! The more you pick the more you encourage new fruits to grow. If your courgette leaves have developed a white dusting of mildew (see above and below), please don't panic! Click here to see what you can do to help Some fabulous keto-friendly courgette recipes coming up... COURGETTE ROSTI Click here for the recipe COURGETTE BREAD Click here for the recipe Mum, Angela, told us: "Today we began planting our seeds in the poly tunnel... after having some very bad seizures this morning great success with gardening with Dad!" George's sunflower (below) is providing the perfect prop for his runner bean plant. Well done George! What a brilliant idea! A Top Tip from Lily's mum, Vanessa: "Every year we do grow runner beans (see below) in the garden as we all love them; plus they are low on carbs for keto and so tasty homegrown. Here is my top tip to share with you: all those egg shells that you get through with keto (let's be honest there's loads of them). Wash them with water. Leave them to dry, then break them up into tiny pieces and sprinkle them around your plants & veg to keep snails & slugs at bay." Our Daisy Garland tomatoes are doing well. Clusters of firm green tomatoes at the base... ...with a whole host of little yellow flowers at the top. I think we might be in for a bumper crop! Wowee!!! What fabulous tomato plants Jacob! Well done! We had a blast with the earlier growing. Me and Jacob learned so much. [Grandma] Lynn Amy's mum, Julie, told us: "Another lovely courgette! We had a BBQ last night so it was red onion and courgette fried in butter with sausages and mayo. (I double wrap the veg and butter in foil and fry on the BBQ) Think I know what will be requested again tonight." "Paige has grown such a lot of stuff this year, at one point we had such a glut of radish we began developing new recipes for them, our fave being radish coleslaw! its very simple...spring onion, radish cut into strips, chard cut into strips, grated cheddar cheese covered in Helmans mayo all mixed together…” Dawn. Chloe's seedlings are coming up trumps! 🌱 🌻 A huge well done! 👏 👏 We can almost smell those sweet peas... 💜 💜 Jacob eating his first home grown tomatoes "We love growing, great food and great for your mental health too.” Lisa Lovely to receive this message from Gethin's mum... "Something to cheer you up on a Friday morning, our first sunflower has come out." The Driest July On Record More than two million households in the UK will face a hosepipe ban, after the driest July on record. Southern Water will restrict the use of hosepipes and sprinklers within Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, meanwhile South East Water has confirmed there will be a temporary hosepipe ban for households in Sussex and Kent. Click here for 6 tips on watering your garden during a hosepipe ban. Lilly's mum Vanessa send us this fab picture telling us: "Lily's Sunflowers looking beautiful, Tomatoes growing well but still green and we've have had 4 courgettes from our courgette plant so far…" Gethin's mum told us today: “Gethin’s been picking his tomatoes this morning. He had to have a litle taste test too. Mushroom halloumi and tomato kebabs on the BBQ later…" Tuesday 16 August 2022 - Woke up this morning to the sound of rain. #beyondgrateful Lilly is busy picking her tomatoes which are ripening by the day... Well she's waited a long time but Amy finally has her first beautiful home grown tomato! Apparently it was delicious! Well done Amy, Keep Calm and Grow On! Jacob’s mum, Sarah, told us: "Jacob's sunflowers are not very tall, but the colours are beautiful. One courgette ready for picking for his tea later. And he's picked some more tomatoes. We've learned so much this year on growing with Daisy Garland. Can't wait to do better next year. Thank you Daisy Garland" Poppy and Teddy’s tomatoes are coming up trumps! Poppy and Teddy you are Green Shoots 🌱 🌱 Superstars! ⭐️ ⭐️ To Kick off our Autumn Green Shoots Project, 45 Daisy grow bags are winging their way to our Green Shoots gardeners. Look out for the postman everyone! "Autumn is my very favourite season. A season I welcome with open arms and fully embrace. That back to school feeling which has never left me gives me a renewed burst of energy and motivates me to plan and think ahead. While the fading of summer may sometimes feel like an ending, look carefully and you’ll see life stirring with potential. October is the time not to hibernate, but to pull on those wellies, and head out into the garden. I've just picked the last tomatoes, not quite enough for a meal so I munched them sun-warmed straight from the vine. This afternoon I am heading up to the allotment to take a peek at the pumpkins. (Last time I looked they were doing OK). Tomorrow, I will be getting stuck into some serious bulb planting… Bulbs take some beating. They’re colourful, economical on space, easy to grow and relatively cheap. A packet of bulbs planted in the ground or in an attractive pot will probably cost you less than a bunch of flowers and is certain to last longer. Pots of bulbs near doorways or just outside windows are lovely at any time of year. They can be put in place at just the right moment for you to enjoy those first tender buds and flowers which fill your heart with renewed hope for brighter days ahead. Gardening at this time of year is a fascinating journey of discovery. Being outside in nature is a great way to see the beautiful colour displays of the changing leaves. Fresh air and a little sunshine can do absolute wonders for our energy levels as well as boosting vitamin D. We don’t make enough Vitamin D in our skin here in the UK between October and March and it’s difficult to get enough from food sources alone during these months. Government Guidelines therefore recommend that all adults consider taking a daily supplement of 10 micrograms/400IU vitamin D per day during the autumn and winter months. Advice for children and babies varies. I recently read how three-quarters of UK children spend less time outdoors than prison inmates. A shocking statistic, which makes our Green Shoots Project 🌱 all the more important. Go on, pull on those wellies NOW and join me outside in the fresh air!" SARA x Sunday October 2nd: Potting up here I come! I split my narcissi bulbs (Golden Dawn, Tea a Tete, Martinette and Niveth) between 3 different pots (see below) for added colour and interest. I look forward to seeing those little green shoots appearing in the Spring 🌱 It is always exciting to receive a package in the post, especially when it's from The Daisy Garland! Lily's mum told us: "Thank you from Lily for the Daffodils was a lovely surprise when she got home from school. Plus. We still have our last bowl of toms " Jacob's grandma told us: "Thank you so much (again) Daisy Garland green shoots. As soon as we have a dry day, Jacob will be out there planting bulbs " Amy's mum Julie said: "Thank you Daisy Garland Amy loves her Green Shoot package!" Anabelle's mum sent these lovely pics and said: "Thank you so much for the daffodil bulbs! We are looking forward to planting them together xx" Gethin received his Autumn Green Shoots Package too. Mum, Helen, told us: "Gethin would like to say a very big thank you for the next stage of the green shoot’s project. We are looking forward to planting them. He was particularly happy that there was two layers of parcel to open xxx" Tia has planted her bulbs with her grandad and step Daddy With tia just learning how to sit up she had lots of fun Mum, Hannah, told us: We planted ours yesterday and it was very windy!! Annabelle enjoyed playing with the bulbs and watching me plant them! Chloe is delighted with her narcissi bulbs and can't wait to plant them! Look out for those little green shoots Chloe 🌱 George's mum, Margueritte sent these fabulous pics and said: "Well look what arrived yesterday afternoon! What a wonderful surprise. You are so kind to think of George. George says "Thank you so much Daisy Garland family for my lovely present". We are sure to get on with planting the Daffs this weekend.” Grandma Lynn told us: "Jacob and Mia planting narcissus bulbs. Thank you Daisy Garland green shoots project" Gethin (below) has been very busy this half term potting up his spring bulbs.... Lily planted her miniature narcissi bulbs this weekend. She's cleverly added Cyclamen and Pansies on top to give some early colour. Manage Cookie Preferences