To celebrate homegrown fruit & veg, our new ‘From the Plot’ Instagram series highlights some of the special growers who generously share their practical knowledge with others. We recently spoke to @robgardensandgrows whose self-deprecating humour always brightens up our day. Here’s what he had to say…
Instagram is a good starting point for inspiration
I can get easily distracted so my inspiration comes from everywhere! There are so many talented growers and gardeners on Instagram so it’s worth finding a few that make you smile and give you some thoughts on what you could do in your space.
I recently went to my first ever village show and that was also quite inspiring! The plants and veggies that people grew and the quality, it was wild! I rocked up with a few measly attempts in a couple of categories and wow… I need to up my game!
I enjoy visiting gardens for inspiration but I love exploring greenhouses. Seeing what people are starting from seed, what they’re keeping in there all year round…
My love of gardening comes from my mum
My love for gardening comes from my Mum. My Mum is the queen of tomatoes and she’s been giving me lots of tips this year – she was a little horrified at how much I’d let them go wild. I’m not sure I knew what the word truss meant… until now!
My style is colourful chaos
I think colourful chaos sums up my style quite nicely! I moved into this new garden in January 2024 and it’s a big change from my tiny terraced garden in Walthamstow. I’ve loosely planned out areas, but this year it’s been a bit of a combination of experiments and figuring out what’s already growing here.
One big challenge I faced is the soil type. Having been in a London garden before where everything grew in containers, I could control the soil. This year I met…. clay! It’s not actually been too bad and I’ve been trying to work with plants that can thrive. I’ve also got several raised beds that I can control in a bit more detail, so that unlocks a whole world of possibilities when growing things from seed.
What I’ve most enjoyed growing this year
I grew my first ever pumpkins this year and I really enjoyed seeing the small ‘speck’ pumpkins sprout and sprawl about the place. They also seem to be lasting a long time, who knows.. maybe they’ll make it onto the Christmas tree as baubles.
The strawflowers blew my mind. A bit thirsty at first when starting off in the greenhouse, they have given me so much joy across the year. They are so colourful and so tactile (the sound when you touch the petals is a very intense ASMR moment) and the pollinators are obsessed with them. I would often find Red Admirals clambering over the flower heads getting a little pick me up and fluttering off.
Why I recommend growing sugarsnaps
Image courtesy of @robgardensandgrows
My recent crop of sugarsnaps was so successful! I planted way too many too close together (oops) and it became almost a thick bush of sugarsnaps but, what a treat! Delicious to snack on when doing a bit of gardening and perfect for throwing into almost any meal. I can’t quite believe how many I was able to harvest. I have some purple ones to try next year.
I would really recommend trying these, they were so resilient and, unlike the poor broccoli, they didn’t seem to get ravaged by too many bugs and critters. I planted them alongside a whole bunch of nasturtiums in a raised bed. One thing I can tell you is… rabbits blooming love nasturtiums!
My plans for next year
Images courtesy of @robgardensandgrows
I need to find a moment to sit down and make a plan and select my seeds for next year. I know I want to double the amount of raised beds I have, which means I’ll need some more seedlings! I want to try some really creepy looking pumpkins, some beautiful flowers and see how many berries I can grow for the birds to snack on.
I’m attempting to turn a big chunk of the lawn into a native wildflower meadow. It heads up to a walnut tree at the back of the garden and I’m excited to see what will grow there. In the woods near the house there are common spotted orchids and pyramidal orchids. Imagine if they popped up in the garden? I think I need to do a bit of research on how to encourage that to happen.
Grow like Rob
Images courtesy of @robgardensandgrows
If you want to buy some of the things Rob grows, here’s a quick shopping list:
- Pumpkin seeds
- Strawflowers
- Sugar snap pea seeds
- Native wildflower seeds
- New and exciting veg seeds (experimenting is good!)
You can follow Rob over at @robgardensandgrows. And if you want to read about other inspirational growers, check out our #suttonsfromtheplot series over on Instagram.
