Plant Abundance!

Spring is unfolding and you are in good time to sow seeds and generate plant abundance on your balcony, in your garden or allotment. Seedlings started in early spring can take up the increasing light levels and have time for their roots to settle in before the vigourous growth of mid spring. But they need a good start to help them grow strong and resilient in the face of pests and weather events. When you sow them yourself you can make your own choices about potting mix ingredients, materials you choose etc. This can be a low-cost and sustainable alternative to buying in plugs and plants.

During this workshop we will cover softwood propagation of indoor and outdoor plants, and we will make up a natural rooting hormone from willow.

We will look at potting mixes, and how you can make amendments to existing mixes to increase available nutrients for seedlings. We'll make up a potting mix together and use it to practice the technique of soil-blocking, which is a pot-free method of bulk seed sowing that gives freedom to the seedling roots and involves less wastage of potting mix if seeds don't germinate. We will handle and plant out some pre-sown soil blocks as well as providing you some soil blocks to sow and take home with you.

This workshop is run by Joy and Luke Justice, based on market gardening, allotmenting and community food-growing experiences.

The workshop may be mostly indoors or outdoors depending on the weather. We will let you know beforehand so you can dress accordingly!