A PINK WHEELBARROW and a passion for gardening

During lockdown M T O’Donnell put her time to very good use, writing blogs, setting up a bi-monthly digital magazine and making videos, as well as creating a full and productive garden

- M T O'Donnell

Do you have an allotment or a patch in the garden?

I share my garden with a 14ft trampoline, two swings and a lot of footballs that belong to my two gorgeous children who care only that the garden is a place in which to play, and so it should be. That does not however mean it cannot also be a pretty and productive paradise, loved by pollinators and grown-up people alike!

I grow most of my veg in five raised beds built in the furthest corners from the footballs around the garden. All of the fruit and herbs, with the exception of strawberries which have their own dedicated raised bed, are grown in the borders intermingled with flowers. This brings the obvious companion planting benefits but chives for example, mixed with hostas, are a winning combination aesthetically.

Any favourite veg or fruit you would recommend to others and what experiments did you plan for 2021 in the veg garden?

I love to grow produce to eat and there is no better feeling in the world than lifting homegrown fruit, veg and herbs from plot to plate. I grow potatoes, onions, cabbages, kale, leeks, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots, turnips, peas, lettuce, beetroot, tomatoes, chillies, strawberries, apples, gooseberries, raspberries, chives, rosemary, thyme, basil and parsley among other things.

I grew tree spinach for the first time last year and loved the height and structure it gave so I have sown it this year in a line at the back of one of the veg beds in order to use that height to provide a soft windbreak and to screen off the tool shed and working corner.