Grow your own kits and free wine

Seedpantry is the latest addition to my garden-retail-therapy favourites, courtesy of its adorable starter kits that include all you need to create a salad window box, herb windowbox and numerous other great urban gardening kits (there’s a great gardening kit for kids too). OK, they’re not the cheapest of kits but they’re gorgeously packaged and contain everything you need from pots and compost to seeds and plant labels, so I reckon they’d be a perfect gift for a new/aspiring urban gardener.

I learned about Seedpantry through Cono Sur, who make yummy wine  and encourage people to grow their own fruit and veg. As such, they’re among my favourite companies because they’ve got their priorities so perfectly right, not just because they combine gardening and booze, but also because Cono Sur was the first carbon neutral winery in the world, and opts for sustainable winemaking, including using geese instead of pesticides to deal with bugs, and travelling round the estate on bikes.

Cono Sur is going to be sampling its sustainably-produced wines at the Grow Your Own Show on 1st-2nd May, at the Seedpantry stand. The Seedpantry team will then show people how to grow fruit and veg in limited space, including planting seeds in their wine sample cup. And apparently, Cono Sur will also be running a competition at the show, with six bottles of Cono Sur Sparkling Brut and a seasonal planting kit from Seedpantry up for grabs for one stand visitor per day.

I’ll be there over the weekend, so that I can share all the useful advice that’s sure to be on offer (and see if I can sort some exclusive competitions for groweatgift readers too). If you’re anywhere near the show, it looks like its well worth a visit so book your tickets now.