Malvern Living Jul - Aug 2022

GROW FOR
Gold
In this edition, our regular
contributor Matt Biggs gives
us advice on how growing
your own can be both cost
effective and rewarding...
With prices rising and evidence of some
empty shelves in the shops, now might be
the time for a little bit of ‘Dig for Victory’
spirit!
There are so many ways of adding to
your food options, from a few radishes to
add some peppery perk to your salads to
courgettes, beetroot, peas, Japanese and
Chinese salad leaves, tomatoes and, of
course, the humble spud!
Even if you have no space, balconies,
hanging baskets and even windowsills
can host something edible from chilli
plants and herbs to hanging tomatoes -
and there is nothing like picking your own
home grown produce and taking it straight
to the kitchen. Many local Colleges offer
short courses to help you get started,
there are books, videos, TV programmes
and your local garden club - all there to
get your growing energies into gear.
As well as the physical activity involved
in preparing the ground and hoeing and
weeding there is a mental benefit too
and this is becoming more and more
recognised as we rush from work to shop
to home - a little time spent in the open
air with the birds in the background is
very beneficial and if you join a gardening
club there is a social side too, as there is
in having an allotment and sharing both
gardening knowledge and produce.
Children too can join in - an easy to grow
packet of seeds and a large pot or a
patch of earth and off they go - and there
is a lot of learning in a packet of seeds,
from biology to botany, the maths of
sowing and spacing, the responsibility of
being in charge of something, watering
and weeding and then the joy of sharing
what is grown - it is win, win all the way,
and if the odd slug or snail comes along,
they too have a place!
To find out more about Matt visit his
website matthewbiggs.com
let's waste less...
Home composting is the best way to turn
your organic fruit & vegetable peelings as
well as eggshells, coffee grounds, tea bags
and shredded paper into a free compost
for your garden.
ADVERTISING FEATURE
But what if you don’t have a particularly large garden or one with
no borders and just pots? Fear not, you can still compost, but
using one of the alternative composting bins.
A Wormery
Wormeries: A wormery is a form of
composting in which worms break
down kitchen waste and produce a very
fine compost and nutrient rich liquid to
feed your plants. Anyone can keep a
wormery, but they are particularly useful
to those with only a small garden or
limited amounts of garden waste. The
same foods can go into a wormery as a
normal compost bin, with the exception
of citrus fruit. You can even add small
amounts of meat, which the worms
(Tiger Worms) will love! However, you
must only feed worms small amounts
at a time, otherwise they can get too
hot and remember to drain off the liquid
otherwise they could drown in it.
Bokashi: Bokashi is a composting
system that you can do from your
kitchen using two special buckets. They
A Bokashi
work by using a fermentation process designed to work in the
two buckets using special ‘bran’, which is an activator. Add food
scraps to the bucket with a sprinkling of bran, push the material
down and seal the lid. Keep doing this until the bucket is full and
then start the second bucket. The fermentation process takes
2-3 weeks and produces a liquid in the bottom, which is a great
plant food or can be poured down the drain to stop the build-up
of algae. Either bury the remaining contents, which rapidly breaks
down in your soil and makes great organic fertiliser or add to your
compost heap to accelerate the composting process.
For more information about composting visit
www.letswasteless.com. To order your Bokashi or Wormery
visit www.getcomposting.com.
24 | www.minervamagazines.co.uk