Gardeners in Balham, Tooting and Wandsworth are seeing results in the soil, in trying out new skills and having some fun together.
As our fortnightly free Growing Tooting classes continue, have a look below at what we’ve been doing, and do get in touch to share ideas or with any queries.

Very proud gardeners! 

Basil seedlings transplanted into the ground at Melanie’s allotment.

 

 
More proud gardeners, indoors this time:

Veronica, Diana and Morena sowing seeds, transplanting lettuce seedlings (Sainsbury’s, 60p), dividing Moroccan mint to take home in pots.

 
Back outdoors, gardeners of all ages at Ravenstone School are getting their school raised beds going

Growing Tooting Handout 5 This is now available for participants and for TTT friends who read this blog and who would like to catch up on the details. 
Themes are Pests, Companion Planting, Square Foot Gardening. 
Please click here to download and keep a copy of Handout 5.

Square Foot Gardening is useful for the home gardener because it helps you focus on making best use of space, putting plants together that make sense, and creating an interesting mini-landscape.

What’s in the square foot bed below?
Tallest plants top RH corner (= north side).
Gail’s donated tomato and borage (top RHS squares).
Maxine’s lemon balm and 2 strawberries (top LHS).
Seeds elsewhere – bell peppers (top), English marigold (centre), radish, dwarf nasturtiums, basil (bottom L to R)

Square foot bed planted with veg, herbs and flowers for pollination.

Here’s a small bed full of different herbs, spotted at Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses

Some more from weekend 5 on the scientific and growing judgements and choices we make when we are gardening:

Selecting seeds:
Bean bed in Balham: last year’s white flowered  beans (which weren’t very productive) and conventional scarlet-flowered beans to plant; sweet peas for extra decoration and pollination.

Trimming when transplanting to keep plants healthy:
Trimming off excess leaves on lemon balm and strawberries donated by volunteer, Maxine, who dug them up that morning; we put them in the square foot bed.

Adding nutrition to a plant in a pot:
Giving the Brown Turkey fig a top dressing of John Innes No 3 and planting with dwarf nasturtiums to give ground cover and colour.

And for some insights into high-end gardening, it’s Chelsea Flower Show this week, with lots of media coverage.
Good growing, everyone!