Living Green Part III: The Edible Garden

Each of these little plants were on compost row, destined to become worm food… That is until I decided to repot, using some homemade compost and as luck and a persistent green thumb would have it, they have regenerated baring edible gifts.

A Tuscan pot filled with budding strawberries

HANDY TIPS:
- Strawberries prefer a very sunny position
- Dis-budding (removing flowers) for the first month is essential to ensure the growth of strong root systems and lots of leaves
- Allow fruit to ripen on the vine and remove all over-ripened or bug eaten fruit to avoid attracting insects.

A lone blueberry… We ate it's sweet, ripe buddies

HANDY TIPS:
- When growing blueberries in pots, ensure the pot is large. Blueberries are shallow-rooted and prefer damp soil
- Blueberries prefer acidic soil. I mixed spent coffee grounds and tea leaves into my soil to achieve this naturally
- Birds love ripe blueberries, cover your shrub with nets if the birds become a problem.

Sweet, sweet basil, baby!

HANDY TIPS:
- *Listen to your wife, Byron*
- Sweet/Italian basil loves a sunny, warm position
- Prune leaves when the stems become woody to prolong the life of the plant

* I handed Byron a new packet of basil seeds last year. He dumped half the packet (approximately 50 seeds) into the one tiny hole made by his index finger. Thankfully, I have been able to separate some of the seedlings.

So I robbed a few hundred worms of these delicious plants, at least I saved them the half-nibbled stalks.

Bella xx

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