Gardening is having a real renaissance.
Sure, people have been growing their own since the dawn of time but us time and space-poor millenials never really stood a chance in our rented rooms.
Lockdown, however, has seen more of us reach out to community gardens, permaculture groups and houseplant husbandry. It seems like everyone’s been propagating spider plants like there’s no tomorrow.
So it was only a matter of time before some bright young thing came up with a business aimed directly at those of us urban greenies without outdoor space. Pot Gang is a London-based monthly delivery box of grow-your-own materials, from seeds to growing advice.
Founder Sam, tells us that during lockdown, he realised that loads of his mates had started growing herbs and veg on their windowsills, patios and balconies – but no one really knew what they were doing.
‘There were questions flying about my group chats about what to grow and how to keep things alive. People were getting a bit stuck and it seemed like any support out there was for proper serious gardeners, which is all a bit stuffy and serious.’
In response, he set up Pot Gang to help young urbanites who haven’t really gardened before but who want to grow fruit, veg and herbs at home.
So, why are so many of us turning back to such a fundamental activity when we’re surrounded by supermarkets and food outlets?
Sam believes there are a few reasons.
‘We’re becoming increasingly aware of food miles, packaging and the gone-off food that we’re chucking away,’ he tells us. ‘Then, particularly during lockdown, more of us placed value on our homes as spaces that we get joy out of. It’s therapeutic growing stuff around you – you feel like your plants are your little babies (I do, at least!).
‘And then I also think people are realising that what’s in supermarkets is pretty limited. You usually only get one or two types of each fruit or veg, when there are loads of different strains and flavours out there.
‘Growing-your-own is a solution to all of these things. It’s less wasteful, more varied, and is a really rewarding focus to have at home.’
But what if, like me, you don’t even have a balcony? What can you possibly grow indoors?
‘There’s loads you can do on sunny windowsills,’ Sam explains, with herbs like marjoram, chives, rosemary, basil, oregano, coriander thriving, as well as and tomatoes and chillies.
If you do have a balcony, invest in some big pots and watch how chard, spinach, oriental greens, radishes, spring onions and beans thrive.
The pandemic has undeniably changed the way we live and operate. The Great Pasta and Toilet Roll Shortage of March 2020 was just one strange issue amid a roster of odd and scary happenings, but it did show just how reliant we are on supermarkets and how terrified we are of going without.
With that in mind, it seems rational to predict that more and more of us might try to move towards greater self-sufficiency in the future.
Sam agrees – but not because people are scared that they won’t be able to get hold of stuff.
‘It’ll be more because lockdown has got more people invested in their homes and cooking more of their own food,’ he says. ‘Plus, once you grow-your-own for the first time, you realise it always tastes way better when you’ve put your love into it.’
One burning question that I’m sure we’ve all been dying to know the answer to is: why does shop-bought basil refuse to grow back once you’ve picked it?
Herb expert Sam says that it’s because supermarkets cram too many plants into one pot so that they look ‘nice and full on the shelf’, but that then creates too much competition for the nutrients they need to grow big and strong.
‘That, or they get scared of being put on top of takeaway pizzas.’
Source: Read Full Article