An alternative use for potato bags

We used to love potatoes in our house. From deep fried to those well known snacks featuring a man with a big 'tash on the tin, we couldn't get enough.  Then hubby was diagnosed type 2 diabetes.  It was a real wake up call and following a bit research he decided to gave up carbs and sugar, as a lover of all things sweet, I decided to cut down carbs and sugar too.  A few months later we had both lost weight, and my husband's blood sugar levels had stabled all without medication.

From a gardening point of view his diagnoses has had an impact on what veggies I grow, out went sweet corn and new potatoes.  In came courgettes and aubergines, both low carb and versatile (recipes to follow when veg is fully grown :)



Sweetcorn plants  from 2010

 

With spuds no longer growing in the garden, a large collection of potato bags sat unused in the shed until I had a brain wave. Just because it said Potato bags on the wrapper it doesn't mean they can't be used for anything else.

 

So with that in mind, I decided to pot up my sunflowers in these sacks and it's worked quite well,  it means I can put these tall plants into hard to reach gaps without that hop, skip and a jump which usually entails when planting at the back of the bed.

 

 

And there you have it, a sunflower at the back of the boarder and

all without falling on my face!







Freebies and my love of sunflowers

With a smidgen of space of my windowsill, I have decided to make a start on growing some seeds I have acquired through buying a certain magazine (You don't have to be Sherlock to guess which one ;D).

The viola seeds I've had for about a year, I was going to grow them last year for Autumn, but in the end I opted for wallflowers instead.

The red sunflowers are from last months magazine, I find I am like a magpie regarding sunflowers and pumpkins (which I tell you about at a later date.)  I love the different varieties and think this might stem from my childhood and my Sindy greenhouse.  The flimsy toy came with a collection of seeds including sunflowers.  The bigger the plant grew, the more I was fascinated.  How could such a small seed grow into something as tall as my Dad's garage?  From then on I grew them every year, courtesy of a seed or two from my hamsters food.  This however waned in my moody teenage years, but my love of sunflowers came back once I had a garden of my own.  The seeds are now courtesy of the garden bird's gru, as I longer have a hamster to steal from.  So along with these plus a smaller variety in my pot luck selection, I now have a red stunner to add to my borders this Summer.

 

It's all your fault Sindy...