What to do with extra plants – Diary of a Rocket Gardener

I’m eagerly awaiting my plant delivery, so I haven’t really got much for my diary entry this week. I was turning my thoughts to what to blog about and pondered something that has come up for me over the last few weeks. Since lockdown, I’ve spoken to quite a few friends over the phone who have asked me where I get all my veg plants from. Obviously I recommend Rocket Gardens, but often the comment comes back that they don’t have enough space because most plants come in packs of 10. Well, I know most of their gardens quite well, and manage to persuade even those friends of mine who have the smallest of spaces that any extra plants don’t have to go to waste. These are my standard suggestions:

  1. Plant veggies in amongst your flower beds and borders – I do this quite often…cavolo nero and rainbow chard look really lovely in amongst all the flowers.
  2. Plant in between rows – if you have several rows of brassicas or sweetcorn, for example, you can easily squeeze a row of lettuces in between them.
  3. Plant roots close together and harvest early as baby carrots/beets etc
  4. If you have neighbours, donate a few plants – they will be delighted! Or leave them outside your front gate with a note to say “free to a good home”
  5. Grow a few reserve plants in small pots (you could even use the new boxes that the plants arrive in) and keep them on a windowsill as back up – you will inevitably lose a few plants to pests etc, so it’s great to be able to replace them.
  6. Be creative and make some new planters – I find I have loads of junk lying around that would make a good planter…old olive oil cans, broken wheelbarrows, buckets that have holes in etc etc