World Mental Health Day and Gardening

Gardening and Mental Health are fantastic partners:

No this isn't me jumping on a band wagon.

I take anti-depressants. I have done for around 12 years.
The reasons for my depression are a complicated jumble of chronic illness, the death of my mother, trying to self-build a house and renovate another, workplace bullying, and the classic: hormones.

After being brushed off by a doctor near our old house, we decided to transfer to the practice near our self-build. The 10 minute assessment appointment turned into an hour. I reeled off everything that was happening to me, I sobbed, she listened, she asked me some questions on a standard test to try to gauge my current state, and she decided I needed to give myself a break, she would get my medical issues fully investigated and while I was waiting for Consultant appointments and scans she wanted me to start taking an anti-depressant.

I broke down in tears again, not so much because I felt like a failure for needing anti-depressants (which is very common), but because she had heard me, really heard me.

We started on a very low dose of something to boost my serotonin levels...in fact the pharmacy printed label said 'take one daily to boost low mood'.

My GP checked back in with me a couple of weeks later, then again a couple of weeks later, and we agreed that though I'd noticed an improvement, it was very mild, perhaps we needed to increase the dose a bit.

Currently I'm prescribed 3 times the amount I was on when I started (which is still well below the maximum daily dosage), and for me it works. I feel balanced, my responses to stress, anxiety and sadness are much more in proportion - I now recognise just how bad I was back in 2007.

I think it is incredibly important that we talk about mental health and stop being afraid of anti-depressants. Talking openly to people at work, I've discovered quite a few people who have been prescribed them. Some only for a short time, and some much more long term like me.

I've seen people give up because the tablet prescribed didn't work, or gave them side-effects - to these people I say wait, speak to your GP about your concerns. There are a lot of options out there, just because one tablet hasn't helped doesn't mean a different one won't. I was lucky that my GP chose carefully for me. Also anti-depressants aren't like flipping a light switch, things take time to work and find balance. My husband was incredibly supportive which helped enormously.

I've seen people begin to feel better after taking anti-depressants for a short while, and stop taking them suddenly because they think they are 'cured'! Again, go to your GP, do not just stop taking anti-depressants, always do it with the support and guidance of your doctor, you can fall into very dark paces (metaphorically) when you go cold-turkey. A dear friend decided to take himself off his tablets suddenly, and became very ill. When I asked him why, he said he hated the idea of taking anti-depressants - like it labelled him in some way, we discussed it long and hard, I reminded him that some people (like me) have a chemical deficiency/imbalance and the tablets are there to support our body much like taking a vitamin. Think of it simply as a daily supplement and the demonising voices begin to fall away.

Soon after, with his GPs guidance, my friend got himself back onto his tablets and I made him swear never to take himself off them again without first consulting his doctor.

So can gardening really help?

Well it certainly helps me as part of my daily self-care 'routine', and millions of others swear by it too.
Not only are you moving muscles, breathing fresh air and hopefully picking up some much needed vitamin D (but do wear sunscreen!), you are also absorbing yourself in an activity that needs concentration, but shouldn't add to your stress if you do it right.

For example, deadheading flowers focuses your eyes and mind on finding those faded blooms, carefully tracing the stem back to the next flower or leaf node, and snipping it cleanly off with sharp secateurs or scissors. Each one removed is a success, and will reward you with more flowers in a few days/weeks.

Sowing seeds, potting on seedlings and planting them out can have similar powers to train the mind away from stress and anxious thoughts. If listening to birds singing (or neighbours arguing!) is stealing your focus, try bringing it back by listening to some of your favourite music, or maybe a mindfulness podcast if you find these helpful. Some actually find these things anxiety inducing, so do listen to yourself. If you are overwhelmed, stop and change how you are accomplishing your goal, but continue to aim for it.

Don't try undertaking a huge project like building a deck or digging a pond - now is not the time to put extra pressure on yourself. Choose small easy goals (like removing a single dead flower), prepare your tools and surroundings, and take deep steady breaths. If all you manage is that one flower head today, that's perfectly fine - remember that it is one more than you achieved yesterday, and allow yourself to smile when you do succeed.

Love
Rebecca xx.

Back to Basics - Sowing Seeds for Square Foot Gardening - Leeks

Sowing Seeds for the Square Foot Garden - Leeks

Hi everyone,

We'd be crazy to think that Winter is over and Spring is on the way, this week in the UK we're expecting sleet, snow and temperatures barely above freezing. However it is possible to get some seeds sown right now, lets get going with some leeks for the Square Foot Garden.

In this video we're sowing Sutton Seeds Leek Lyon Prizetaker. One packet contains on average 300 seeds for just £1.55 (that's less than 1 penny per leek!), as opposed to approximately £2.50 for 1 kilo of loose leeks from the supermarket, and money can't buy the fun involved in growing your own fruit and vegetables.

So here we go, the first in a back-to basics guide to grow your own.

Enjoy!
Love
Rebecca xx

Sowing Seeds for Square Foot Gardening

In this week's YouTube video, we're beginning to look at seed sowing for the veggie garden, and looking at the first principles of Square Foot Gardening. As the season progresses there'll be more posts and videos on the SFG, but here's a great place to start :)





Enjoy!
Rebecca x

Carnivorous Plant Updates, New Arrivals and Seed Harvesting

Carnivorous Plant update:

It's been a really busy summer in my Carnivorous Plant collection.

Sarracenia var. unknown has had it's best year EVER! I've never had such big pitchers on it, and never seen it with such an intense colour either. That means I can stumble towards a partial identification, it's probably a rubra hybrid, though I couldn't be any more specific than that.

Sarracenia rubra ssp unknown looking amazing in July

Sarracenia rubra ssp unknown 2017 brings the best size pitchers and colour yet

My Venus Fly Trap (Dionea var. unknown) has grown well too. Some of the traps achieved much stronger colour than this photo shows, and it fed regularly on all manner of things including craneflies and earwigs!

Dionea var unknown growing well

I've never seen a Venus Fly Trap in flower, many experts say the flowers are dull and it is better for the health of the plant not to allow the flower stem to develop...but I really REALLY wanted to see the flowers, so I let it carry on.

Dionea flowers! So pretty!!

I wasn't disappointed! The white Dionea flowers are tissue paper delicate, with fine veining that looks like neat pinstripes extending from chartreuse green centres. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
 Moments after I took this photo, I snipped off the flowers right at the bottom of the stem, allowing the plant to use it's prey to feed up for the winter.

And now the Newbies:

For my birthday in June, my best friend bought me two amazing beasts from Triffid Nurseries (he had to be pointed in the right direction, but the choices were definitely his own)

Sarracenia rubra ssp. gulfensis 'Yellow River' Florida

This delicious specimen came to me in full flower, with pitchers over a foot tall. It's been feeding gluttonously in the greenhouse over July and August, to the point where there are small 'burn' marks on the pitchers, and you can just see the dead insects through it.

Sarracenia rubra ssp. gulfensis 'Yellow River' Florida

It's so massive I couldn't get it all in one photo and do it justice. The flowers are the most alien I've ever seen on a carnivorous plant. The clever landing pad forming a cup to collect pollen and seed.

Sarracenia rubra ssp. gulfensis 'Yellow River' Florida flowers are spectacular

Drosera binata dichotoma 'Giant'

Photo to follow! This Sundew is very aptly named. It's a huge, forked variety that attempted to take over the world shortly after it arrived. I ended up having to stake the 18" tall limbs to give everything else breathing space! It is sliding into dormancy now, so I'll have to take photos of it's fresh growth in Spring/Summer next year.

Seed Harvesting

As the Sundew flowering has been so spectacular this year, so I decided to collect the seed with a view to growing it next year.
Once the flowers had finished and the seed pods had turned brown, I labelled some small brown envelopes similar to this listing on Ebay. I wrote one envelope per subspecies of Drosera, then carefully cut the entire dried flower stem off each plant, as close to the plant as I could. Trying not to shake the stem, I opened the envelope with my left hand, and tipped the flower stem upside-down into the envelope with my right.
Drosera are very generous with their seeds, which look like fine, short clippings of hair, so dropping a few won't hurt! Believe me!!
I left the stems in the envelopes for a couple of weeks, until the seeds had fully ripened and dropped into the bottom of the envelope.
The next job was to clean the seeds.
I tipped the contents of the envelopes out onto a sheet of paper (one envelope at a time - don't mix the seeds up!). Then I carefully picked out all the bits of stalk, petal and seed head. Fine tweezers are invaluable at this point, and try not to sneeze or sigh heavily, or you'll be left with all the chaff and none of the seed!
When the seed is as clean of chaff as it can be, carefully pour the seeds back into the correct brown seed envelope, and seal it.
Seed from some species of Drosera need a period of cold stratification to germinate, others can be sown as soon as they are harvested.

Here are the requirements for my collection:

Drosera Species	Subspecies	Native Region	Stratify Seeds?
capensis		Tropical	No
capensis	Alba	Tropical	No
binata	dichotoma ‘Giant’	Temperate	Fresh – No /Stored -Yes
spatulata		Subtropical	No
filiformis	filiformis	Temperate	Stratification required
hybrida	filiformis x intermedia	Temperate	Stratification required
binata	T Form	Temperate	Fresh – No /Stored -Yes

As it happens, I haven't had time (what with starting my own YouTube channel - did I tell you about that? ;-) ), so everything is being stored until Spring, and I'll stratify or not, depending on the variety and it's requirements.

I'm really looking forward to sowing them though!
Have you ever tried growing Carnivorous Plants from seed? Tell me about your experiences in the 'Comments'
Love
PB xx

Triffid Nurseries Carnivorous Plants Unboxing and Review

There's something you don't know about me, I like to keep...

Carnivorous Plants

In the beginning there were Venus Fly Traps

I've owned carnivorous plants (on and off) since my teens, I seem to remember collecting margarine lids and sending them off for my first Venus Fly Trap (Dionaea muscipula).

It was tiny with three or four softly blushing traps. I wasn't great with it. I gave it tap water - very infrequently. I would try to make the traps close by poking it, try feeding it dead flies, you know how it is. Needless to say, the poor thing died very quickly - probably from tormented exhaustion!

Then there were Sundews

Later I got a gorgeous Sundew (Drosera), which was fantastic at catching fungus gnats, and other teeny tiny flies. The glistening, sticky 'dew' fascinated me, as did the unfurling leaves and graceful flower heads. My mother was very enthusiastic about keeping it on the kitchen windowsill.

I stuck with sundews over the years, though I thought I wasn't very successful with them. Now I realise they could just have been in their dormant phase...why didn't you tell me the go dormant?!

When we got the greenhouse I decided I wanted to step up my game a bit.

And then there were Pitcher Plants

Ohh yeah!

I currently have two Pitcher Plants...a tall one and a short one. The tall one is Sarracenia farnhamii, and the short one doesn't say. I bought them from a garden centre, so they didn't have very detailed labels. But what I do know is that they've come through two winters in the greenhouse, and they are throwing up new pitchers as I type.

Carnivorous Pitcher Plants, Sarracenia var unknown
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

When I cut back the dead pitchers, I split a few open along their length, and noticed they'd been very successful hunters, trapping and digesting huge blue bottles and wasps among other things!

Carnivorous Pitcher Plants, Sarracenia farnhamii
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

I also have a Cape Sundew Dorsera capensis alba...the big question is - Is it dead or just dormant? I guess I'll have to wait and see...

Carnivorous Plants, Sundew Drosera capensis alba
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

Buying from a Specialist Carnivorous Plant Nursery

Inspired by the new growth on my Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia), I decided to expand my collection. I looked around online, and settled on Triffid Nurseries, a UK based carnivorous plant specialist. Their website was easy to navigate, had good photographs and product descriptions, and the ordering process was very easy.

Please note, I paid for everything except for a free plant which was an offer on the website, and a packet of seeds. These gifts were genuinely available to all customers at time of ordering, I did not announce I was a blogger, or writing a review until after my order had despatched.

 I ordered:

Plants (supplied bare root)

• 2 Sundews Drosera capensis
• 1 Sundew Drosera x hybrida filiformis and intermedia (actually supplied in a square pot, not bare root)
• 1 Sundew Drosera spatulata
• 1 Sundew Drosera filiformis ssp. filiformis (Free plant as part of the Spring Offer)

Seeds

• Sarracenia purpurea ssp. purpurea x Open Pollinated
• Drosera binata 'T' form 

Plus

• A bag of multipurpose Carnivorous Plant Compost (UK)

I was also really tempted by the pygmy sundews, they're soooo cute! but I didn't want to get too carried away.

The delivery charge is £8.95, which at the time felt like quite a lot for bare root plants and some seed (the compost price already includes P&P), but the plant and seed prices were very competitive compared to garden centres, where you 're lucky if the labels tells you what varieties you're buying, plus the individual plant packaging is so intricate and careful, I soon realised the charge was totally justified

I picked varieties described as easy and/or hardy on the website, but they also ask you to give a few substitutes, just in case what you've chosen is unavailable. I just said that I was a 'mildly experienced owner of carnivorous plants, keeping them in an unheated greenhouse year round' so alternatives need to be 'hardy and easy to grow'.

I placed my order via the website on Wednesday 12th April. Normally their plants are selected and packed on the Monday after your order is placed, but as this Monday was a Bank Holiday, I fully expected to have to wait an extra week, which was completely fine with me. They also warn you that they do not send out order confirmation emails, so don't get anxious when you don't hear anything.

I did send them a message via their website, to see if they could advise me what the chances were of my sundew coming back to life. Not only did they confirm shipment of my order (which was sooner than I expected, and I hadn't directly asked about), but Andy also gently broke it to me that poor old 'Alba' was very probably dead *sadface* It apparently should have lots of new leaves by now. I'll do a post mortem once I have the new compost...maybe the roots will be clinging to life...maybe.

Triffid Nurseries Haul, Unboxing and Review

My parcel arrived by courier on Friday 21st April.

The box was an appropriate size and strength for the contents, and the filler was shedded paper, which I can recycle - yay!!

In the top of the box was a personalised letter from Andy and Alison of Triffid Nurseries, and clipped to the top was a ziplock bag with my two packets of seed and an additional free packet. The website stated 10 or 20 seeds of each, but there were definitely more than that in each packet. There wasn't a packing note though, and as you don't get an order confirmation, I'd kinda forgotten what I'd actually ordered (oops).

A personalised letter, with the seeds stapled to the front in a ziplock bag
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

Opening the box from Triffid Nurseries
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

Each plant was beautifully and creatively packed to protect as much of the leaf and dew as possible. The letter said the plants were just coming out of dormancy, but I think they were a bit further along than that, with lots of fully formed leaves. Each came wrapped in soaking wet paper towel (remember they are bog plants), and with a proper plastic plant label, so it was easy to identify each plant. I was really pleased with them all. Below are photos of every plant I bought and how it looked on arrival

Two lovely Drosera capensis plants
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

This pot should be Drosera hybrida filiformis x intermedia but look at the tiny spatulata (my guess) round the edge - so adorable!
Phot by Pumpkin Becki

Drosera spatulata
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

My freebie! Drosera filiformis ssp filiformis
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

The Pumpkin Becki Award for Most Ingenious Packaging - I love the sticky tape roll to give extra height!
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

All the seeds are sown, Drosera binata T-Form, Drosera binata 'Otaki Forks NZ' and Sarracenia purpurea ssp purpurea
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

 And finally...
'Alba' made it through after all!! Yay!!! I started pulling away the rosettes of dead leaves and discovered all this lovely growth. I am so bloomin' happy :D

Drosera capensis alba emerges from dormancy at long last
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

And when I unpotted it to upgrade it to a bigger one, I discovered strong shoots coming from the root ball as well!

The arrow points to a shoot coming off the root ball on Drosera capensis alba
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

Huge thank yous to Andy and Alison at Triffid Nurseries for sending me such fantastic quality plants, seeds and compost, and providing additional support via email. I would highly recommend buying from them, and I'm sure I'll be ordering again soon...I'm still hankering after the pygmy sundews afterall!

Let me know if you're interested in Carnivorous Plants in the comments,
Love
Pumpkin Becki

5 Tips for Gardening in Autumn

Here are my top 5 tips for gardening in the Autumn.

Tree Fern Dicksonia Antarctica
Photo taken by Pumpkin Becki at Chelsea Physic Gardens, London

1 Move frost tender plants

Living in the South East of England, I don't worry about lifting Dahlia tubers once the first frost has blackened them in the Autumn, I just prune off the dead top and add a good 8-10cm mulch over the soil. I do take the time to wrap tree ferns up in fleece.

Further up country you're going to want to make space in a frost-free place to keep half hardy and tender perennials, including Banana Ensete, Cannas and Fuchsia.

I would also add Banana Musa to that list, as I've never been able to keep one in the garden over-winter, even really wrapped up well. It's so disappointing to find a dead plant when you peel back the fleece in Spring.

2 Clean paths and greenhouses

Algae growth goes into overdrive in October/November while it's still mild, and mornings are misty. Paths can become treacherous to walk on, so take some time now to scrub or jet-wash paths, decks and steps.

3 Aerate Lawns

Over the summer months our lawns take a real battering. We mow them to within an inch of their lives, they get parched and then drowned, we walk on them, pets do their business on them, and in my case the guinea pigs and chickens spend large chunks of time there too. I have two patches that get particularly compacted and in the winter water sits on the surface for hours after a good downpour. Early in the Autumn the ground is usually too dry to be able to improve drainage or relieve compaction, so once there has been a bit of rain and it's soaked in it's worth going over the lawn with a large garden fork at 10-15cm intervals, inserting it down through the turf into the soil (right up to the point where the tines meet the fork's shoulder if you can) and give it a good firm wiggle back and forth to expand the holes as much as possible without actually lifting the turf. Then you can dress the holes with a free-draining mixture of topsoil and sharp sand (aka top dressing), sweeping any excess in with a beesom broom afterwards.

The grass will also appreciate having fallen leaves raked off regularly with a springtine rake, and this will also scarify (scratch) the dead grass and moss out, making the lawn healthier and less springy.

Ladybirds over-wintering in sweetcorn plants
Photo by Pumpkin Becki

4 Don't be too tidy

Wildlife needs somewhere to live over the winter and spring, so make sure you have safe places for them in your garden. Log piles, bundles of canes and hedgerows are idea for insects and birds. Leave stalks and seedheads on plants over winter, they'll look pretty touched by frost and wildlife will make good use of them too.

For even more luxury why not add bug hotels, frog boxes and hedgehog hides in secluded corners. Dragonfli sell a huge range of habitats and identification guides for wildlife, as will your local garden centre and many other online retailers. Or if you're feeling practical, why not have ago at building your own

Hedgehog hibernating

5 Always check bonfires for hedgehogs!

I can't reiterate this one too much. This innocent looking pile of leaves behind my Hebe is in fact a hedgehog nest. He's set up home to hibernate over winter, and I discovered him while I was mulching the bed under the front window of my house.

I checked he was okay, and piled some extra leaves on top.

And Special Secret Tip Number 6

Take time to enjoy the changing season and all the delights it brings, the blazing colours, delicate frost patterns on windows, wild birds visiting garden feeders, pumpkins ripening, picking apples from the tree, and pouring over seed catalogues with a cheeky hot chocolate, deciding what to grow next year.

Pumpkin Becki xx

Gardening confession time

I started the year with such good gardening intentions.

I took my seed collection out of the cupboard two months ago and reorganised it. I took out all the March seeds, and put them in a big pile on the kitchen table, so I was ready to go. They stayed there for a week or so, 'til I got fed up looking at them. They got put in a big plastic bag ...and shoved back in the cupboard.

Since then, I have been heavily involved in my crafting (www.hollysfriends.co.uk), working on commissions and orders, which must take priority. The weather has ranged from snow, hail, rain, wind and sun - often in the same half hour, so going outside has been less than appealing.

We've also rescued a third Guinea Pig, now called
Pudding, who is so absorbing, she may actually have caused a wrinkle in the space-time continuum, so much so, that I am devastated to find it is the last day of April already and I haven't sewn a single seed.

There is nothing I can do to change this state of affairs however, it just means I've got an horrendous amount of catching up to do. Wish me luck, I shall need it :-)