A stroll through your local nursery for vegetable seedlings or seeds is most likely to show empty shelves and benches right now. Gardeners new and old are trying their hand at growing their own fresh vegetables or simply wanting to add fresh colours to a small courtyard, a pot on a window sill, or a back garden. There is nothing more soul soothing than planting seeds and tending a garden; watching them sprout and checking their fragile stems as they break free of the soil.
Slow down and rediscover your garden
Like most, I have been using this time at home to slow down, enjoy simple pleasures and spend time in my garden. Growing our own food is no longer a fringe activity. It is recognised by many as the very foundation of personal independence. Other reasons for the surge in gardening’s popularity is a garden’s offer of a day’s exercise and meditation and nutritious food for our table. Enjoying the soil on your hands, the dirt under your nails, and revelling in the satisfaction of a day spent digging, planting and watering a new crop, are some of the many moments of beauty and quiet reflection offered by a garden.
Being autumn and heading into winter, those new to gardening will most likely not grow enough to keep a family fed over the next few months. There will be many failures, but if they learn from the mistakes and remember it’s the journey, not the harvest, they’ll gain the bigger picture and develop a lifelong passion.
How can your local nursery help?
As gardeners visit their local nursery to replenish supplies, we in turn, rely on our production nurseries to keep the shelves full. Production nurseries provide plants of all stages – seedlings, rootstocks and trees for the horticulture industry, landscapers, public amenities and of course, retailer nurseries that we visit. The nursery and garden industry is here to support and encourage all of us with or without ‘green thumbs’, to experience the benefits of growing our own food and the pleasures of watching new life emerge.
#RediscoverYourGarden
If you want to some top tips on how you can #RediscoverYourGarden, check out the new series of videos on NGIV’s Facebook and Instagram pages. They’re bringing growers, nurseries, retailers and gardeners together to help satisfy your thirst for knowledge if you are getting familiar with seeds, spades and soil for the first time. Stay in touch via their social media accounts and share your gardening success using the hashtag #RediscoverYourGarden.
We’ve linked to a great one below featuring Morgan Koegal from 3000 Acres talking about starting a vegetable garden. Happy Gardening!
