joandcolovetogrow

08/01/2024

I'm usually getting mega stressed about now that I haven't sown anything in the Autumn and I should be sowing my chillies and tomatoes (which I will probably do at some point)

Then I remember that when I first started and fell in love with growing my own I didn't sow a thing until at least March!! There was no pressure I grew what I wanted to eat and never felt like I was behind or missing out on something!

So this year I am going to take it back to basics, I will grow my faves and maybe some extras but I will try not to over sow and try not to get caught up in growing something just because everyone else is.

I love gardening and I love being outside but I don't always love the pressure to fit in! (I'm also totally aware I put that pressure on myself 😁)

For now I will sort my seeds and make a plan and get ready for spring 💚🌿 and I am looking forward to sharing it with you all xx

07/01/2024

Bloosom and buds

It's lovely to see but feels far too early!!

It's still so mild which also feels wrong!

05/01/2024

Small but beautifully formed carrots

Grown in the garden by H 🥕💚

18/12/2023

Beautiful bumble bee on the mahonia!

In December?!?! That's madness but it made my day to see it buzzing about.

I absolutely love the smell of the mahonia it's so lovely not surprised the bees love it too.

21/10/2023

🍎🍏Happy Apple Day!!🍏🍎

This is my grandmas apple cake and it is delicious!!

The recipe is Octobers edition of


Perfect rainy weekend treat 🍏🍎

07/10/2023

I was going to make a quince and apple crumble but I over cooked the quince and they were super sour so I'll have to go with plan b! Just apple 😂

Any quince tips greatly appreciated

28/09/2023

Foraging and some insta reality!

I wanted to do some lovely foraging shots with a nice basket but this is me 😂😂

Rosehips in a dog poo bag, messy hair, old jumper and bleeding thumbs!

WARNING picking Rosehips can be dangerous 😂

I love this time of year so much!

Now to make some rosehip syrup to help ward off the winter colds 💚

26/09/2023

Toffee Apple Overnight Oats

This is really healthy and really delicious also a great way to use your apples and Autumn spices 🤗

I used:

1 pot of Aldi low fat Toffee Yoghurt
1 Apple (grated)
40g Oats
Pinch of cinnamon

I mixed it all up in a bowl, popped it in a jar and that was it!

Leave in the fridge overnight and enjoy in the morning!!

24/09/2023

Today was an apple picking day
🍏🍎
Thank you we have a very full bag 😂🍎🍏

Lots of pies and cakes to make!

19/09/2023

Tomato Tuesday

Think it is an ananas noire, might not have been labelled 😬

Beautiful big bu**er though!

This was grown by my mum off a plant I gave her, I'll be honest I'm surprised it has survived 😂

13/09/2023

I wasn't going to bite the dahlias mum, promise 👀

11/09/2023

These are my friends perennial sweet peas.

They are the most unusual and beautiful colour sweet peas I have ever seen!

I shall be eagerly watching and waiting for pods to save some seeds 💕

10/09/2023

I think this beaut deserves his own square 😍

Soooo cute

04/09/2023

This x

Normalize this.

02/09/2023

Kelvin Floodlight

I love you so much I will have LOTS more next year

You make me very happy 💛🤗

31/08/2023

Kelvin is here!!! He's so beautiful 💛

Labrynth not far behind!!

I had a bit of a disaster this year I ordered 5 or 6 tubers and only 2 were actually viable 😬

Let's hope we have more luck next year I know for sure who will be on the list!!

26/08/2023

Chard is one of my absolute favourite things to grow.

It's so versatile, easy to grow, absolutely delicious, really good for you, very beautiful and generally doesn't get affected by pests!!

However this year the beet leaf miner has hit us hard 😒
I have been removing the damaged leaves and binning them, I don't want to risk composting them.

I'm hoping that as the weather continues to cool down the nasty little beasties will get lost on their own!

Luckily it only affects the leaf and the stalks are still good to eat. Also if you catch the leaves early you can just remove the nasty bit with the bug in (I saw do that!)

I love the stalks and leaves in omlettes and in stir fry so all is not totally lost.

26/08/2023

This is Kelvin, Kelvin wants to open in his own time.

Don't be like Kelvin

20/08/2023

16/08/2023

So glad the blue skies are back

12/08/2023

Soon be Sloe Gin time 🎄

Autumn is definitely in the air

08/08/2023

We have a baby melon and it definitely deserves it's own square 🍈

Who knows if it will reach it's true potential we can only hope 🤞🏻

I think it might be one of your seed babies

04/08/2023

A bit about me and an excuse to use this pic!

(I think these might be my favourite flowers ever!!)

I'm Jo! I have a husband, two boys 6 & 9 and a mad labrador who's 1!

We all love being in the garden and growing (destroying) our own.

I currently have a VERY neglected allotment and a new little veg patch at home.

I love gardening and I love getting the kids involved, it's so good for us and so rewarding.

I also like to share the reality of gardening, I think in the world of perfect Instagram gardens it's good to see that it's not all beautiful dahlias and success things go wrong too! And that's ok!

There's always next year 🌻💚

If you made it this far thank you x

Flowers are Zinnia 'Queen Red Lime' and Arctotis Fastuosa 'zulu prince'
Picked from Trial Field

03/08/2023

I had the best day at today, I didn't want to leave!

It was amazing to hear about the company and witness first hand their passion and love for providing the best possible quality seeds they can.

The trial filed was just incredible the hard work and love that goes into the whole process is so wonderful.

I have always used Fothergill's since I was young, so to be there today and see how the factory works and the behind the scenes was amazing.

I have so many pics and videos I can't wait to share them 💚

Feeling very grateful for this opportunity and also slightly worried that I may be over run with Zinnias next year 😂

28/07/2023

Baby Luffa

28/07/23

28/07/2023

My only Sunflower

I love her so much

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

15/07/2023

IS THIS A BABY LUFFA!!!!!

I really hope it is!!!!

(looks a bit rude 😂)

Luffa Update 15/07/23

13/07/2023

CHRISTMAS PARSNIP EXPERIMENT

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

So according to Google it takes a parsnip approx 130 ish days to reach maturity......

We have 165 days until Christmas!!
🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

So!!!

I am going to pre germinate some seeds now and get them in the ground ASAP, then on the big day we should have some lovely maybe small baby parsnips to roast with dinner!!!!

Who's with me??!?! Let's sow!!

12/07/2023

Henry's Alpine Strawberries sown from seed in February are looking amazing!

We have flowers and fruit forming and I'm excited to see his face when he sees them 💚🍓

It's so easy to get caught up in growing new things that you see on insta that you can sometimes lose the fun and get overwhelmed.

Seeds that the kids have grown no pressure no fancy techniques just chucked the seeds in a pot and watered the from time to time 🤗

That's the best kind of growing 💚

05/07/2023

This little beauty decided to have their lunch on the front lawn today!

She made quick work of getting the snail out of its shell 🐌

Amazing to see, I could sit and watch the birds in our garden all day.