Tales from the One Pot Pledge patch!

Since the One Pot Pledge launched in March 2011 we have had hundreds of positive, amusing and inspiring accounts from One Pot Pledgers across the UK. The aim of the campaign was to get people growing something edible and organic for the first time, in the hope that spurred on by success that people would keep on growing their own year after year.

Here are three of our favourite accounts from pledgers (prizes are on their way!) but thanks to everyone who sent us their photos and stories – we’ve enjoyed them all!

Food on a budget

Dan Bullock and his partner Jen, made the One Pot Pledge on the Garden Organic stand at the Real Food Festival in 2011. At the event the couple enthusiastically signed up and potted a chard plant, as according to Dan, “I've always wanted to start growing things but hadn't until we received these plants. We've got a tiny studio flat, on a budget so everything that's extra useful - like food - is a lovely bonus!”

Once the couple got their chard plants home they immediately started using them in salads and on jacket potatoes (and still are) but their growing didn’t end there!

Excited by the prospect of growing more of their own food they branched out to two pumpkin plants, three alpine strawberries and some herbs, parsley and thyme. Dan said, “I've re-potted a few times for every plant and it comes from the simplicity of those first small chard plants creating more.”

Dan and Jen’s experience has been so positive that they are now looking to the outdoor space they have available for next year, undeterred by their self confessed ‘tiny, tiny balcony’ their future plans are “To get a small corner greenhouse for out there which should help us grow more food in the near future. That's all eventual but we’re looking forward to seeing what else we can do.”

In all Dan and Jen’s shared experience of having a go at growing some of their own food has been positive from the off, all spurred on by a little chard plant with plenty of promise! In Dan’s own words, “Thank you for starting something cool.”

Food from the sky

Having had a salad box on the windowsill the previous summer the idea of having her own scaled up One Pot Pledge seemed so simple that Annabel Schnitzer Noth decided to go all out with an entire garden of veg!

Despite this being Annabel’s first year of real growing, after moving flat she thought she’d take advantage of her new generous roof space complete with it’s own greenhouse and took the plunge to grow all sorts of veggies. She started by sowing seeds and buying a few plug plants and turned the roof into her “Little oasis in the middle of London.”

As well as a barrow full of One Pot Pledge veg: tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, courgettes, spring onions, chillis, French beans and salads, Annabel also turned her hand to Aubergines, cucumbers, beets, kales, broccoli, squash and radishes.

On how successful her first growing attempt was, Annabel said, “Pretty much everything worked well. We had an infestation of aphids on one of the broccolis and the other broccoli bolted so that didn’t really work out. The squash were in a high pedestrian area so they just got trampled. And we discovered the cat really likes to eat the spring onions so we probably wont be growing that next year, but on the whole it’s been great and I have learned a lot.”

What’s great to see if that Annabel hasn’t let her mixed success put here off and to prove it she said, “I have planted out my winter crops and am looking forward to next year.”

Food and fun for all ages

Grandmother and first time grower, Christine Bex promised herself that this year she would try and grow a few vegetables in pots but she wasn’t expecting to be so proud of her achievements!

During her first attempt at growing veg she grew tomatoes in a large pot and lettuces. And it seems it’s not just Christine that has benefited from the experience, her three year-old grandson thought it was great fun that he could go and pick tomatoes for his tea. One weekend he even had rice krispies and tomatoes for breakfast, which were apparently “delicious”!

With only a very small garden Christine wasn’t able to grow much this year but as it was such a successful and enjoyable start Christine says “Next year I am going to also grow runner beans and French beans in pots. Who knows I may one day become self sufficient!”

More photographs from your success stories can be found here on our Flickr page.

Vegetables

One Pot Pledge® concept devised by Food Up Front