Dear Jayne

I was the happy recipient of an Organic Herb Grobox over Xmas, what an excellent idea!  However my gifter didnt realise that you are meant to plant the box in the garden, rather than the herbs actually growing in the box as a container.I don’t have a garden:    I live in a flat.   What are my options for using the grobox in a container on a sunny window ledge?

What size of container would be required? How much/what depth of potting compost / soil would you suggest? How much watering? Any other advice?

 Many Thanks in anticipation

 Regards:

 Dave

Hi Dave

Wonderful to hear from you and thank you so much for supporting us I love your business, yes your Grobox is designed to be grown in a pot, container, size 30cm x 25cm by 10cm width

 I apologise if this is not clear, we will work on the product messages. Everything you need is included inside the GroBox , just open the lid,  place your grobox in your desired container / pot , cover with 2 inches of compost (I’d use a peat free multipurpose,)  or a loam compost ) , water once and watch it grow, . A window ledge is perfect, just ensure the product is not overwatered so only water when dry , as GroBoxes are designed for water conservation and they have high water holding capacity. When your seedlings grow only thin out the seedlings  when they have grown 4 leaves per plant and space so they are 2 cm apart , remember give unwanted seedling to a neighbour friend or local school, share in your community. Feed your plants every two weeks with liquid seaweed, use leaves regularly in salads, cooking and teas.

If you have any more questions, please drop us a line,

Have a wonderful 2012

Jayne

Remember our last ordering  day is 20th December 2011, from today we will be sending out all your gifts first class.

This week’s letter is from

Tracey Bennett from Gee Cross,

I’ve just bought a number of electrical goods and I have found I have a large amount of polystyrene left; can I use this in the garden?

As you know Tracey I try to use most waste packaging in the garden, how I use the polystyrene is to, chop it into chunks and place it at the bottom of my pots to help drainage, also as polystyrene is an insulator it can stop pots cracking by reducing the soil temperature. Another use id to chop it into tiny bits and mix it with my compost for potting on my seedling, I find because it is sterile it really does stop those soil borne diseases. I hope this answers your question.

Collecting and Storing Herbs

At the end of the growing season, it really is worthwhile cutting down and drying your garden herbs to use through the winter months, if picking fresh herbs for use, try to gather the herbs firs thing in the morning just as they are plump with the dew on their leaves. My favourite storing tips is to freeze herbs by bundling them into small bunches, lay them flat on a tray and freeze them in plastic sandwich bags, alternatively you can put the leaves in ice cube trays, cover with water and freeze.

Your own dried Herbs

1. Cut Herbs in the morning, avoid crushing or bruising the leaves so they retain all the flavour and aroma
2. Small herbs are based spread on muslin to dry but larger herbs (such as rosemary,sage,thyme, lemon thyme)should be tied in bunches and hung in a shady cool place so air can circulate around them. (the top of kitchen units are great)
3. When the leaves are dry and brittle , they can be removed and stored in airtight jars. Store in a cool, dry,dark cupboard.

Kitchen Garden Things to do

• Harvest and put into store onions, garlic and root crops
• Plant Lettuce, and Spring Cabbage outside.
• Harvest and store Apple and Pears
• Plant Garlic
• Sow Broadbeans in our Vegetable GroBoxes

Flower Garden

• Plant perennials, evergreen shrubs
• Lift,divide and replant perennials
• Plant Spring Flowering bulbs
• Sow sweet peas

Enjoy your Garden

Gardeners Diary

Regularly deadhead your roses, rhododendrons’ and bedding plants to keep a continuous flush of blooms.

Cut back Ceanothus, Weigela, Kerria and other spring flowering shrubs to keep growth in check.

Tie in raspberry canes and thin out apples, pears.

Try to keep your eye out for aphids on your fruit trees and if infected (leaf curl on tips) spray with a homemade mix of tea tree oil and washing up liquid mixed with water.

Weekly cut and edge your Lawns

Trim Hedges and Evergreen Shrubs into formal structures to add form to the garden.

Make regular sowings of salad leaves and radishes.

Use Herbs for the kitchen table.

Pick flowers for the house.

Keep pots watered and feed tomatoes, chilli’s and peppers with a high potash feed.

Have a wonderful summer

Jayne

Because our weeds are native plants, they have for generations mutated to become stronger and more suited to our garden conditions in which they grow, so sadly they always have an unfair advantage. As other plants we bring into our garden have grown in other countries with differing conditions, so your role as a gardener is to play referee in a one sided contest and let your chosen plants stand a chance. Good Weed control can be achieved by mulching, all plants need light to grow, and excluding it will eventually kill them.  So here are a few rules of weeding;-

1. It must be done regularly and while the weeds are still small, try to pull them up before they set seed of we will have a problem next year.
2. Hand Weed
3. Use a dutch hoe
4. Mulch with chipped bark, chippings, stones, gravel.

Our letter this week comes from Steven Norris of Gee Cross,

Jayne

 My front lawn now seems to full of several types of moss with barely any grass in sight. What do I do to return it to the lush green lawn I am used to and will the moss return?

Moss in Lawns is probably one of the least understood of all lawn problems. Treating or killing the moss is not the answer. Moss is a sign that something is basically wrong with your lawn. They can be one or several of the causes outlined below

       Water logging – in winter or summer.

       Poor feeding regime – usually denoted by light green grass.

       Acid soil – carry out a test.

       Shaded Lawns – overhanging trees or large shrubs.

       Mowing lawns too close – a common cause, for it weakens the grass – allowing moss to take hold

       Drought – if severe enough to harm or kill the grass. Not to be confused with a bit of summer-browning

       Sandy – free-draining soils. This can weaken the grass and allow moss to take over. Some mosses are quite happy in these conditions.

       Compaction – continued use by children and pets with no remedial attention by way of aeration in the Autumn.

Treating small areas of lawn moss can be carried out with a moss killer containing Dichlorophen. After a couple of weeks, you can rake out the dead moss and re-seed. If you need to use a feed for the area, it is better to feed the whole lawn in order to avoid patchiness!

Assuming that you have inherited a lawn with a moss problem, you should carry out the following maintenance regime – rather than simply treating the moss which is there unless you tackle the underlying problem, the moss will return!

       In Spring, apply a Ferrous Sulphate based moss-killer to the whole affected area.

       Two weeks later, rake out the dead moss.

       Re seed the bare areas

       Early summer, apply a lawn fertilizer to get the grass growing again

       Mow the lawn properly, regularly, throughout the summer – NOT too short

       Keep the lawn well watered I n drought conditions to allow the new grass to keep growing.

       Take note of any areas of dense shade on your lawn, and try to minimize this if possible.

       In Autumn, give the lawn a good raking or mechanical scarifying, and aerate.

       Apply top dressing at this time if the lawn is either uneven, or in need of an organic ‘injection’. Particularly useful on weak sandy soils.

       Carry out a soil test at some stage in the summer/autumn to assess the acidity of the soil. If in need of adjustment, then lime can be applied in the autumn.

       Keep off lawns in the winter months in order to avoid compaction of the surface.

This week’s letter is from Steven Shaw from Offerton

Whilst tying up my shrubs from the back wall, I noticed for the first time my pond has completely frozen over, I know it supports a number of frogs and toads in the summer but I am concerned they may be under the ice, what shall I do?

Ponds are a real worry this time of year especially when we are having a prolonged hard winter. If the entire top of the pond is frozen but it is a very deep pond you should be ok, as the oxygenating plants should give enough oxygen for the fish and other life, do try to melt a little ice at the side of the pond and place a football on top to stop the entire surface freezing over so frogs and toads can have a air hole when they climb to the surface. If your pond is small and shallow, try to melt the ice with cold water and place a football on top of the surface and cover with horticultural fleece to protect from prolonged cold. Keep checking your ponds and ensure there is always an air hole for the wildlife.

Hiya, 

Please could you advise me on the recommended planting times for both the spring and winter gro boxes.  This will help me to decide which will be more suitable as presents. 

Thank You

Helen

Hi Helen

Wonderful to hear from you,

Our Winter Groboxes can be planted up until January 2011, and have  very cold temperature varieties which are early flowers, vegetables or herbs  Our Spring Varieties can be planted up until March 2011 and have a selection of cold temperature varieties which are a little later flowers, vegetables and herbs

Hope this helps, here at GroBox we are here at a drop of an email, to help you grow your flowers, vegetables and herbs.

Have a great week

Dear Sir/Madam

I have purchased 5 groboxes through OXFAM to give as Christmas presents. However I am unsure of two things. Firstly I am not sure which of your groboxes I have actually purchased and secondly, I can’t believe that the box can be planted outside at any time of the year as the instructions suggest. please advise so I can send the boxes with a better idea of what to do with them when.

Regards

Nick Brown

Hi Nick

Wonderful to hear from you

Just as an indicator, are you GroBoxes, Vegetable, Herb or Flower. Our GroBoxes can be planted any time of the year as the flower selection is a cold climate selection (Puschkinia, Chionodoxa, Snowdrops) The Vegetable is a winter seed collection that can withstand cold e.g., Broad beans Peas and others. The box and planting medium act as an insulator so as soon as the soil temperature  rises to above freezing (in tubs pots etc) your gardens grow. So you can plant your GroBoxes in any plastic tubs, pots or garden, just open the lid cover with compost and water, once your GroBox seedling grow you can thin out the seedlings to the number you need. The thicker seedlings are the beans and peas and will happily support each other as thy grow taller. The grass like seedlings  are onions leeks and garlic.

Hope this helps and if you require any more information we are here to help

Have a wonderful weekend

Dear Jayne

Once my I have harvested all my vegetables over the summer what do I do with my plants?

Thank You K

Hi K

Great to hear from you, great to hear you had a  bumper crop this Summer, it might have something to do with all the Rain plumping up all beans and peas. Just cut down your Spinach, Green’s and Lettuces, these will sit very quietly and produce smaller leaves you can use in salads and soups. I always try to keep behind some peas and beans and dry them in brown paper bags to resow them for next year. At the moment I am sowing last years peas and beans in my pots and baskets with my Winter grasses, as they fix nitrogen in the soil they feed the other plants as they grow so saving me a job of feeding my hungrier plants.  So get ready to plant your Winter Groboxes for wonderful colour and Organic vegetables to feed you all through the winter months.

Enjoy your garden

Jayne