Britain has been at the mercy of supermarket buyers now for so long it’s difficult to find anyone who remembers otherwise. And what have they given us? Shelves groaning with second class food that costs as much in downtrodden farmers as it does in pounds. We all know we used to grow our own food; we’re all pretty sure that food used to taste better, and be better for us; but 20 years of complacency has led us to the conviction that we no longer have a choice. Well, we do – and that choice is as simple and easy as getting hold of some large plastic planters and starting a crop of our own.
Large plastic planters give gardeners the freedom to start growing their own food, without the attendant stresses such an operation usually entails. Since we’ve “grown out” of producing our own fruit and vegetables, we’ve lost the knack of caring for them in their most fragile stages of infancy: and so have become convinced that we simply can’t do it anymore. Large plastic planters give the lie to that conviction in spades by letting gardeners keep a close and effective eye on young plants: shielding them from parasites; controlling the amount of nutrition in their soil; and exposing them to the correct levels of light and warmth. Not even the great British summer can kill off seedlings started in large plastic planters: when it gets too cold, the large plastic planters are simply dragged indoors – and if it gets too hot, or too dry, the large plastic planters can be moved to a tool shed or garage.
Large plastic planters are obviously not so good for tiny gardens – though even here, large plastic planters can be used indoors to start off volumes of seedlings before they are transferred to earth. No – where large plastic planters really come into their own are with large gardens or allotments, in which owners are trying to propagate actual crops rather than one or two plants. A couple of large plastic planters can start off an entire allotment’s worth of crops, giving the allotment user total control over, and observation of, his or her seedlings at their most delicate stage of life. Once the seedlings in the large plastic planters have reached a level of maturity whereby they ought to be able to survive on allotment ground, they can simply be slung in the boot and decanted at destination.
Large plastic planters give a real chance to anyone who wants to try their hand at a little home cultivation. With the right nutrients and a little patience, this year’s seedlings from your large plastic planters could be next year’s dinner. Who knows – if we all give it a crack, maybe the supermarkets will have to sit up and try a little harder.
