Lockdown, so knock up!

There are many ways to grow your own food, says Peter

- Peter Seabrook

THE dramatic new interest in gardening nationwide is quite remarkable, although with weeks of lockdown we should not be surprised. The bright, sunny and warm days through April made it a natural choice for people to get out into gardens and onto balconies.

There were so many people new to gardening and seeking advice on everything from how to get potting compost to controlling 10ft (3m) high bamboo, it was time to help. My starting point was a scrounged pallet, knocked down into planks and reconstructed into an 18in (45cm)-square raised container.

After lining with some recycled black-faced polythene from old compost bags, it was filled with compost from last summer’s pots, plus some oak leaf​ mould and soil from a heap of turf originally cut from the front lawn. Not as good as fresh pest-, disease- and weed-free compost, but needs must when the devil drives!