Illustration by Sophie Kirk
Sowing & Growing
A little bit of TLC, plenty of light and the right amount of water – learning to create the perfect conditions for encouraging growth in our gardens, and ourselves with gardener Sophie Kirk.
Fooled by those two hot days back in March, followed by snow in April, it's hard to believe that spring is really here. This time of year is all about progression, growth, and laying the groundwork for a fruitful harvest later in the year. Take that however you will.
Progression and growth are two things that I’ve worked hard to cultivate in my personal life. Last year I quit my full-time job as an in-house designer at a media company to study horticulture, something I’d not really been interested in (further than a few houseplants and phone calls with my Grandad, the family’s resident gardener). I used to attach my self worth to my design work, and I’d struggled so hard to fit into an industry that always made me feel like I was on the sidelines. It made me very unhappy, and it took the joy out of being creative. But I’m starting to enjoy designing again - I’d call that growth.
Taking a year out to retrain has been exhilarating, exhausting, and challenging to say the least. Despite the biology revision, I’ve grown to love the soil-y fingernails and the rain. The best biological similarities humans have with plants is that the conditions for them to survive have to be pretty exact. The type, exposure and intensity of sunlight, the amount of nutrients available, the hydration, humidity, the list goes on. These are all things that, as humans, we take for granted. But our conditions have to be right for us to flourish. Just like plants, we adapt to our surroundings. But unlike our perennial cohabitors, we only have one life cycle. So it really does matter how you spend it.
Growing (and eventually eating) your own produce, investing time and care into living things and green space, and even just making a mess with soil might bring you the respite it’s offered me. If you’d like to get into growing-your-own (GYO), here's a couple of propagation ideas that you can try at home; They're super easy to do (no, really), and they're guaranteed to bring big returns in terms of tasty treats as the year goes on:
SPRING ONIONS
Using the leftovers to propagate a whole crop of new spring onions. All you need is an empty container, water, and the offcuts that you were about to chuck away. Demonstrated in this TikTok video. (credit @joesgarden)
HERBS
You've seen them in the veggies aisle in Morrisons. A fairly happy looking single module of Parsley or Basil. We've all done it, taken one home with big intentions. Left it on the windowsill, and brutally harvested all of the leaves in one scissor attack to make that recipe we saw on Instagram. Left it there a little too long, then binned it in its sad state. This time, as soon as it gets home, let's get it out of the plastic pot and into a new container. Anything will do. Make sure to 'tickle' the roots, break up any clumps of soil and divide the plant into two or three sections. This will let some of that soggy soil dry out a little, plus you have two backups if one doesn't survive. Pop them into a new vessel and add a little bit of dry soil if you have some. Try not to cut off all the leaves at once, go for one stalk at a time instead. The soil should always be damp, then dry, then damp again. There's no need to water more than once a week. Adding homegrown herbs is one of those things that takes any home cooking from a four to a nine (depending on the dish).
Want to level up? You don't even need to use soil these days; you can grow hydroponic herbs instead. And you can recycle water bottles to use as containers. Crafty.
TOMATOES
There are so many types of tommies out there from 'Indigo Rose', a Purple cultivar providing extra vitamins and antioxidants, to 'Green Zebra', recognisable by its stripey exterior (as the name suggests) and tangy flavour. I'd recommend going in on a different packet of seeds each between a group of friends and swapping a handful of seeds. Souped-up summer salads are guaranteed.
TRY SOMETHING NEW
Once you taste the first thing you've grown yourself, you'll want to grow more. Thinking about the remainder of the year, Sweet Peas are gorgeous throughout the summer to snack on and as freshly cut flowers for the home. You could grow your own pumpkin in preparation for Halloween; take a leaf out of Gerald's book and see how big you can grow it. You could hold your own 'Hot Ones' challenge with friends or relatives to see who can grow the hottest chillies. Just have a go, and even if it turns out badly, you can have a do-over next Spring. Or the Spring after that.
PRO TIPS
In terms of technical skills - There are no cheat codes for growing. Every avid gardener you meet will have their own approach. That's what makes it so great - everyone has a different tact, and these small living things will remain pretty resilient. We could all do with trying to be a little more self-sustaining, and growing is a brilliant place to start. There's huge power in growing; take it from Ron. If you can give everything a little bit of TLC, plenty of light and the right amount of water (just like us humans) you're guaranteed big results. And you can grow in any kind of space, at your desk or on the bathroom windowsill. No garden is required. I can't wait to see what you grow.
Soph Kirk is a Level 3 Horticulture student, plant sitter, and gardener. If you need some help with your veggies this year, find her on Instagram @goodstuff.world