Hello everyone,
We used to rent an allotment from our local Council and had a 5 pole allotment for 7 years. However, with both of us working, going to the allotment every weekend to weed, plant and reap the rewards became like a noose around our necks and we weren't enjoying it anymore.
So in 2015 we quit, took about a year to dig up the weedy grass we called our lawn at home, and then got a landscape gardener to come in, level off the plot and create 4 vegetable beds for us. In the end he persuaded us to have a nice patio and have the 4 vegetable beds behind 2 trellises.
That was in 2017 and we've been growing veg in our back garden ever since. Around the perimeter of the patio we have huge pots with various flowers and bulbs growing in them as, unfortunately, we still had to have somewhere for our clothesline. But this seems to work out fine.
Last year we went to the Chelsea Flower Show for the first time and, towards the end of the day, we came across a stand selling Vegepods. I have bad hereditary osteoarthritis in both knees so bending for me is an issue so we ordered the medium sized one to try out.
The Vegepod comes with a water tank underneath and has a hose to attach to a tap and has several misters in the centre of the domed lid. The enviromesh over the hood ensures that no bugs or birds can get in and no slugs either. It also provides its own microclimate and is so easy to plant up since it is at standing height. There are also versions which have legs that are suitable for someone in a wheelchair. There are also 2 deeper wells so you can grow long rooted varieties such as carrots and parsnips. Ours comes on a trolley with lockable wheels.
We only got the Vegepod last June, and had already planted a lot of our vegetables out so elected to try some turnips, kohlrabi and a couple of cauliflowers. Then we had that terrible heat wave last year and everything except some of the turnips just didn't grow.
This year we started early at the beginning of April and sowed 2 rows of beetroot (Botardy) and 2 of parsnips (Hollow Crown). I sieved the soil down the lines where I sowed the seed and look at how many seedlings we've got, especially the parsnips!
Since then I've also sowed a row of spring onions and a row of rainbow chard.
