seed-seedling-plant-plate

It was wonderful to share growing seedlings out at food club this week - thanks to everyone who brought things in to share and to everyone who took tomatoes, chives, chard or spinach - hope you enjoy the produce from them in weeks to come! 


Some plants may need a little more nurture than others - here's a little bit of info that might be useful for growing and using ...

Tomatoes - we're not sure what type these are but they'll need support as they begin to grow taller - a garden cane or even a dead twig can be a great support for a plant. More info about growing tomatoes is here https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/grow-your-own/vegetables/tomatoes with a great video that explains about pinching out side shoots - I didn't know about this, but it seems important to do it, so I have!

Spinach & Chard
The images below are the seed packets they came from and then my growing plants in my garden, which we are already eating - just cut off the bigger leaves from the outside and new leaves will keep growing. The chard has different colour stems, some pale green, some red - definitely bright lights!


Cooking with chard and spinach might seem a bit daunting if you've not tried it - I was nervous but now love them both. We have spinach as a salad leaf most days. The BBC chard cooking recipes look good https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/chard and Jack Monroe has great ideas too - and all really low cost https://cookingonabootstrap.com/2020/01/21/salad-bag-pesto-recipe/

Have a check of your plants as the leaves get bigger - look for evidence small flying things have taken a liking to them too - then you can remove them or their tiny eggs before they eat half your intended meal!