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One of the joys of gardening is all the lovely shopping opportunities it opens up (yes, I do tend to make as much as I can for the garden because it’s more eco and there’s something rather joyful about repurposing things you’d otherwise throw away, but garden centres hold a mystical allure. Maybe it’s because clothes shops tend to bore me senseless and the consumerist craving has to go somewhere.) However, I don’t believe in spending a fortune on the garden so I’m always on the look out for bargains.
When I got a press release through about Poundland’s gardening range, I had to check it out. I have to admit I was a little sceptical about the quality of gardening kit you could get for £1 but I was extremely pleasantly surprised. The wicker hanging basket pictured above was from Poundland, and other bargainous £1 deals included a pretty floral trowel (not quite Cath Kidston but close enough at a fraction of the price), a gooseberry bush, and solar powered garden lights. Needless to say, I went wild and managed to fill a huge shopping bag for £10, with goodies including trellis, a packet of salsa seeds (tomatoes, coriander, chillis and red onion) and of course, a couple of the hanging baskets pictured above (I’m planning on putting strawberry plants in one and tumbling tomatoes in the other, to help protect them from slugs and snails. Then it’s just a case of netting them when they fruit so the birds don’t nab my crop. I’ll be explaining how to fill a hanging basket in the best way at a later date.) Poundland has just launched a three–for-two offer on seeds so if you’ve been using expense as an excuse not to get growing, you’re out of excuses now.
I’ve also been sent a fair few offers and promotions this week. As well as negotiating 10% discounts for GrowEatGift readers from Shabby Chic Originals (quote GEG03 at the checkout) and Garden Divas (quote deals4divas at the checkout), there’s also a free beginner’s guide to urban gardening available to download from PlantForLife.info (I’ve read it and there’s some genuinely handy advice in it). Should you want to get gardening kit for absolutely nothing, Period Living has currently got competitions to win fruit and veg topsoil worth £130 (yes, that seemed like a lot of money for mud – albeit posh mud – to me too) and a pair of tickets to Gardener’s World. Though I have to admit to being most excited about the competition Cono Sur is running, offering the chance to win bottles of wine in exchange for posting pictures of your home-grown veg. If you need an incentive to start gardening, free booze must surely be a draw?
Right, that’s quite enough rampant consumerism for now. I shall be posting lots growing-related and generally wholesome things over the weekend, rather than encouraging you to part with cash. Promise.
groweatgift 