THERE are not many things in your life you can get free – but there is an easy way to get your hands on a lifetime supply worth of fruit and veggies without spending a penny.
Lifelong gardener Nancy Birtwhistle showed how to top up your fruit and veg drawer – for free – and it works even when you don’t have any outdoor space.
According to the Hull-born baker who won the fifth series of The Great British Bake Off in 2014, thrifty Brits should make the most out of their pots, which can be placed both on the balcony and the window sill.
Chatting with Dermot O’Leary and Rochelle Humes, the savvy gardener shared top tips to growing your own allotment from the comfort of your own home.
Pea shoots
Are you a fan of mushy peas and like to have them with a cheeky fish and chips? What if you could grow them into nutritious pea shoots that go well with a tasty stir-fry?
For this, Nancy revealed to This Morning viewers, you will need some dried marrowfat peas, old strawberry containers from the supermarket, as well as some compost.
Once you have filled the plastic containers with compost, you can sow the peas, before burying them in more compost on top and giving the seeds a spritz of water.
When ready, cover with another container on top – this will act like a mini greenhouse, providing the ideal environment for the greens.
According to the money-smart baking whizz who said you’ll notice some growth in as little as five days, a bag of this green will set you back an average £2.
When you’re ready to harvest, she instructed, you should cut ”just above the leaf joint” and the plant will continue to grow.
”Once they peep through, you can take the propagator lid off and transfer them to a cooler room – otherwise they’ll get really long stalks.”
Spuds
This time of the year when you go to the spud box, you may notice that the potatoes are becoming a little soft and they’re covered in little shoot.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Peter O’Mahony and son go extra mile to ‘keep the birds fed in this weather’ in latest gardening escapades” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”6366814080112″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]If you have an empty egg box where you can keep the British favourite upright, make sure the shoots of the seed potatoes ”are facing the light”.
”These don’t want to be kept any longer in a dark place. They want to be in a light, cool, frost-free room.
”In about six weeks, these little shoots will be about 3/4in long, dark green and ready to be popped in a pot.”
This is a process called chitting, which means sprouting potatoes before planting them in the garden.
Seed potatoes should be chitted around six weeks before you plan to plant them – so, for many, that will mean chitting in February ready for planting in March/April.
You can chit first and second earlies, and maincrop potatoes, at the same time.
Upcycling single use plastic bottles
According to the pro, only a mere 10% of single use plastic bottles end up being recycled – which is why it’s best to make use of them once you’ve finished its contents.
To give them a brand new life, the whizz demonstrated how to easily make your very own hanging pot, with a pair of scissors and some string.
Start by cutting off the bottom of the bottle, before threading three same-size pieces of string through tiny holes pierced with a hot skewer – which is also used for the lid ”to make drainage holes at the bottom”.
If you want to spruce it up even more, you can also get crafty and make a drawing on the DIY pot – ideal for storing store-bought thyme and other herbs.