{"id":16,"date":"2013-03-21T11:26:07","date_gmt":"2013-03-21T11:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backtofront.org.uk\/?page_id=16"},"modified":"2014-03-06T19:08:49","modified_gmt":"2014-03-06T18:08:49","slug":"news-events-resources","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.backtofront.org.uk\/?page_id=16","title":{"rendered":"News, Events &#038; Resources"},"content":{"rendered":"<p align=\"center\"><b><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">LATEST: TOP TIPS By Back to Front Committee Member Donna Cutting\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">\u00a0Growing the Back to Front way doesn&#8217;t just mean growing in your front garden, it can also mean doing things differently, turning things on their head! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">We have all had our successes and failures. If your year has not been as successful as you hoped have a look at what went wrong and it may help you get better results next year. If you are new to growing and want to start next Spring, this is still the best time to plan ahead. It was good to get together, share food we had made (really wonderful food!) and share our thoughts on what went well and what didn&#8217;t, this involved looking at what we could change for the better next year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">Things to think about when planning what to grow next year.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Space<\/b> \u2013 how much space do you have? If your space is limited remember that some plants take a lot of room, such as courgettes and need deep pots or lots of ground.\u00a0 Perhaps stick to smaller varieties such as lettuce tomatoes, beetroots. Have a look at vertical space as well.\u00a0 Back to Front makes some great hanging baskets from plastic bottles which can turn a wall into a living crop of radish and lettuce.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Light<\/b> \u2013 how much light does your area get?\u00a0 Remember some crops thrive in full sun, but others can cope with shadier conditions such as lettuce and spinach.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Wind <\/b>\u2013 if your site is windy make sure your taller plants are staked with a cane to stop them snapping.\u00a0 Also remember that if you don&#8217;t water enough your pot and soil will become very light and could blow over!\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Watering<\/b> \u2013 remember that the smaller the pot the quicker it will dry out. The larger the pot the more space for the plant to develop a good healthy root system.\u00a0 The bigger the pot the better, at least 10 inches wide and 12 inches deep will allow you grow some fantastic crops. If you are struggling with watering, cut the bottom off of a plastic bottle and insert deeply into the pot neck down. Then water directly into the upturned bottle, this will mean that you can water directly to the roots where the water is needed. Also Don&#8217;t forget to put holes in the bottom of the pot for drainage! Don&#8217;t forget you can over water too!\u00a0 If in doubt stick your finger in the pot up to the second digit, if its dry it needs water!<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Budget<\/b> \u2013 how much money can you spend?\u00a0 You don&#8217;t need fancy equipment to grow. Recycle all sorts into practical containers from pallets, bottles tin cans and fruit boxes. But sometimes seed can be expensive.\u00a0 Can you share seeds with a growing buddy?\u00a0 You get over 1000 seeds in a packet of carrots or lettuce..share the joy of fresh food and the cost! Also most seeds store really well and can be used again next year (except parsnips!)\u00a0 keep them in a cool dark place and they will last for a few years.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Ready made plants<\/b> \u2013 if you see a reduced herb plant in a supermarket such as mint, remember you can get several plants if you divide it into smaller pots.\u00a0 This is a plant that will keep going for years if you pot it on.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Combination pots \u2013 <\/b>If you get a big pot you can grow all of your salad in one pot.\u00a0 Plant a tomato in the middle once it is big enough and surround it by salad leaves, spring onions and herbs.\u00a0 Also throw in a couple of marigold seeds and you will attract bees to pollinate your tomatoes as well as being able to eat the tomatoes.\u00a0 The bigger the pot, the more you can grow and you only need to water one pot!<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Support <\/b>\u2013 if you have struggled growing on your own this year, look out for free Back to Front workshops next year.\u00a0 Can you get together with neighbours on your street or in your flats and grow together?\u00a0 Is there a community garden nearby where you can get involved and learn how to grow at home.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Experience<\/b> \u2013 if you are new to growing stick to the easier plants that aren&#8217;t too fussy.\u00a0 These include radish, beetroot, lettuces, chard, spring onions.\u00a0 If you are more experienced, how about trying something more challenging?\u00a0 There are some great catalogues out there that you can get by post or on line, have a look and see what takes your fancy.\u00a0 If you are more experienced, can you help a friend start to grow, or how about volunteering with Back to Front?<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Have you considered growing fruit?<\/b> You may not have space for an apple tree but many fruit bushes will do well in a small garden or in a pot?\u00a0 They are also easy to propagate.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Windowsills- <\/b>You can do lots of shoots on a window ledge, full of vitamins and minerals. You can also grow micro-greens which are very expensive to buy but very cheap to grow. Again they are a powerhouse of goodness.\u00a0 Herbs such as basil, parsley and coriander can also add a pep to your meals.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Harvesting! &#8211; <\/b>The best bit!\u00a0 Most crops do better if you harvest early and often, often producing more and more!\u00a0 If you leave the lettuce\/tomato\/courgette until it gets really big they can lose taste, texture or bolt and run to seed.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Calibri;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><b>Choosing! &#8211;<\/b>This takes us full circle again.\u00a0 Choose crops that you want eat!\u00a0 Radish may be easy but don&#8217;t grow it if you won&#8217;t eat it! To pep things up you can buy carrots in many colours, tomatoes can be beef, cherry or salad size. They can also be stripy, orange and long!<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b><span style=\"color: #000000; font-family: Calibri;\">The biggest tips&#8230;..have fun, eat what you grow, share what you grow, and if you get stuck ask advice!\u00a0 Plus always remember you can&#8217;t control the weather or the slug population!<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LATEST: TOP TIPS By Back to Front Committee Member Donna Cutting\u00a0 \u00a0Growing the Back to Front way doesn&#8217;t just mean growing in your front garden, it can also mean doing things differently, turning things on their head! We have all &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.backtofront.org.uk\/?page_id=16\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"onecolumn-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-16","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backtofront.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backtofront.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backtofront.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backtofront.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.backtofront.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.backtofront.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":833,"href":"https:\/\/www.backtofront.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16\/revisions\/833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.backtofront.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}