One Pot Pledge – getting started with gardening

I hope you all had a lovely Easter long weekend. Dave and I spent a lot of it preparing our vegie patch for autumn plantings. The weathermen are predicting a long, dry autumn here in Perth, so hopefully we’ll have time to get a nice crop in before winter gets too cold.

We re-layered the no-dig garden bed with fresh straw, garden clippings, manure and compost. It’s got to ‘settle’ for the next couple of weeks so we’re impatiently waiting until it’s time to plant the broccoli, beans, carrots and potatoes we want.

Our summer garden was a bit of a disappointment, to tell the truth. Our tomatoes were small, our beans didn’t sprout, and our rockmelon didn’t fruit. We’ve decided to get back to basics this season and try to keep everything simple.

I came across an interesting UK project over at Treehugger.com – the One Pot Pledge. The idea is that people who have never grown fruit or veg before will try just one pot of salad greens, or strawberries, or fresh herbs. The website has all the details they need to get started and gives lots of instructions.

I think it’s a great idea and have passed it on to friends who might be interested. I love little projects like this, just getting people to agree to dip their toes in the water long enough to see that it’s fine. Hopefully they enjoy the one pot experience enough to branch out later on, and start their own little vegie patch.