Sally Nex

Love a scented leaf pellie! This one is Pelargonium tomentosum and it's my absolute favourite, big soft velvety leaves that fill the air with the scent of chocolatey peppermint 💚 flowers are delicate palest pink. It's overwintered well in my greenhouse & I'll be taking cuttings soon #gardening 🌱

Agree...but problem is you can't buy a plant without a side order of plastic pot (unless you source from one of the rare mail order nurseries who will send with pot removed). So gardeners continually acquire new plastic pots, driving more to be manufactured too - est 500m a year in the UK in fact 😥

They were talking about non-black pots but in my experience it doesn't matter what colour the pot is, councils never want to take them anyway 🙄

Now there's a surprise 🙄 trade mag Hort Week has found 40% of councils won't recycle #plastic plant pots - despite new govt regs that they must from 31 March. Recycling isn't the answer as plastic downcycles, so ends up in landfill anyway. The only solution is gardening without plastic #gardening 🌱

I do wooden labels in the greenhouse then related with slate once planted outside 😊

We have seedlings! 😍 this year it feels like such a long wait. With howling wind & rain most days and the ground still sopping wet I'm stuck in winter mode, unable to get outside most days despite the daffs & primroses in flower. #Climatechange is shaping all we do as gardeners now #gardening 🌱

Love my little #plasticfree, biodegradable, low resource pots made from recycled cardboard 💚 these are smaller 5cm ones for my shallots - the ground was too wet for prepping last month so I'm starting them off in containers for now till I've caught up and they can go outside #gardening 🌱

Garlic in the ground 🧄 latest ever planted but have chilled the bulbs in the fridge for a month. As promised I'm taking the chance to do an experiment - chilled to the right, unchilled to the left! We'll see if it makes a difference 😊 (PS they're in the greenhouse to avoid garlic rust) #gardening 🌱

Five people holding a box representing 16,000 signatures in front of No 10 Downing Street

People walking on a street in London, with one person holding a sign saying 'Protect our bogs'.

Someone dressed in a costume representing a peatland bog, holding a box with 16,742 written on it

One week on & the call to end peat sales continues to grow!📢

Last week we went to Downing Street to hand in our 16,000+ petition.

Coming together as eNGOs, growers & supporters, we called for the destruction of peatlands to stop! There's still time to add your voice 👉 https://loom.ly/2owB_VM

Lol never need much of an excuse to do that! 😋

Wooden cutlery make great #plasticfree plant labels. Here I've laid them on their sides as I have a glass cover over my seed trays but when stood up they are tall enough not to wick water as far as the writing (unlike eg lollipop sticks) swap for slate when planting outside #sustainable #gardening 🌱

😂

My poor overwintered broad beans are making a bid for recovery 💚 followed usual routine, sow in Oct, move outside once germinated as they need cold to grow sturdy - but these just drowned 😥 first time it's ever gone wrong & now rethinking how I grow them in future #climatechange #gardening 🌱

Thank you! Favourited 💚

Well the theory goes that since the moon governs the tides, it also governs water levels in the soil - which seems to make sense to me. I don't buy the more woo-woo stuff about planting by the zodiac 😂 not aware of scientific proof of results but just a fun experiment for me 😊

Happy March! 💚 soon it'll be spring... I am planting by the #moon this year so here are this month's phases:
🌜1-2: waxing: flowers & salads
🌜 3: full: rest
🌜 4-11: waning: roots
🌜 12-18: waning: rest
🌜 19: new moon: rest
🌜 20-24: waxing: leafy veg
🌜 25-31: waxing: above ground annuals
#gardening 🌱

Yes I'd imagine so 😉 you get what you pay for with peat-free 💚

Also important to store it under cover so the rain doesn't drench it and make it deteriorate 😉

What brand of peat free are you buying? My squash seeds germinate absolutely fine (and have done for years) in peat-free - I generally buy Melcourt Sylvagrow though have had success with other brands too 😊 cannot bear the thought of the environmental damage I'd do by using peat 😥

That's a good one - corn & peas have all they need to grow already without having to have perfect compost too 💚

Getting ready for planting and sowing 💚 if you have part-used bags of #peatfree compost left over from last year use with care: peat-free is best fresh, used within 6 months of buying. I bought this one last July (date is printed on the bag) - so mature plants and container top-ups only #gardening 🌱

Sign the petition to end peat sales! No more delays: Let's get peat out of gardens once and for all. The time for uncertainty has ended.

actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal... please keep signing - it's open till at least the end of March and now nudging 17,000 💚

16,742-strong petition for legislation this year to #EndPeatSales handed in to Downing Street! 💚

Supported by @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social, @davegoulson.bsky.social, @plantlifeuk.bsky.social, @gardenorganicuk.bsky.social, & #RHS

Huge thanks to everyone who signed and shared!

#EndPeatSales

Well done @sainsburysuk.bsky.social - bedding pansies grown 100% #peatfree 😍 so nice to shop with a clear conscience. It's such a shame we need to remember to double check b4 buying - with legislation to #endpeatsales we wouldn't have to actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal... #gardening 🌱

I so agree 💚

#gardening 🌱

Our thanks to @gardenorganicuk.bsky.social @jackwallington.com @davegoulson.bsky.social @guyshrubsole.bsky.social Riverford Organic Farmers The RHS @barnsdalegardens.bsky.social @kneppwilding.bsky.social and many, many more for spreading the word far and wide 💚🙏💚🙏💚

Aw thank you 🙏 we are working with garden centres to make them places gardeners want to go again - I still go to my local but buy so little nowadays as so much is plastic/peat/pesticide based 😪 there is much work going on to change things tho and awareness customers want different 💚

Sign the petition to end peat sales! No more delays: Let's get peat out of gardens once and for all. The time for uncertainty has ended.

Big week for us at @peatfree.bsky.social - we're taking the petition to Downing Street 💚 over 16.200 people have now signed - smashing our original 10k target 🎉 solid proof of the public support we always knew was there 4 legislation to #endpeatsales actnow.peatfreepartnership.org.uk/end-peat-sal...

It's tidy-up time! I'm dashing out between showers to slowly clip out dead stems and reveal the start of the spring garden 💚 I try not to remove any debris from the garden - what doesn't go on the compost heap ends up in my dead hedge or chop'n'dropped back onto the borders as mulch #gardening 🌱