Win: How to Grow Stuff by Alice Vincent

I love growing my own veg in my garden and on my allotment because it’s fresh, chemical free and very cost effective

Also I can try new fancy veg without searching the land or paying over the odds

I can maintain the balance of meat to veg easily and get to use soupie my fab soup maker every week using whatever is growing on my plot

Another big bonus is doing exercise without realising it while gardening

Nattering to fellow plot holders is another bonus, swapping plants and ideas

It’s great to get outside, relaxing on your own doorstep, watching the birds come, seeing the kids bounce on the trampoline

I don’t know how to grow things! I struggle to keep a cactus plant alive! All I want is to be able to grow basil and parsley. If this book could help me to do even that it would be a miracle!!!

Simply because there is nothing more satisfying than cooking with vegetables and herbs you spent time nurturing and caring for. Seeing all this effort turning into great tasting food is very gratifying. Unffortunately I don’t have a garden anymore since I live in a flat, but I’d love to give a go at growing fruits and herbs indoor!!

I love the creativity of growing and the excitement of seeing my wee patch develop. I also love the unpredictability – I fail pretty miserably with sweet peas every year but have produced some lovely veg!

I’d definitely appreciate some help and inspiration and really enjoy the @noughticoulture insta account – brightens my day.

The book looks beautiful!
Alison x

My houstplants are just as much companions to me as are my pets, I feel pride in watching them grow and adapt to their environments. I’ll shortly be moving to somewhere larger where I can hopefully build a greenhouse and push myself to my houseplant-growing limits.

I love growing veggies as it encourages me and my family to get out into the fresh air and get our hands dirty. Really great to show children where vegetables actually come from (they don’t grow magically in plastic bag in Tesco!) and how they grow and then ultimately how to cook them. A gentle way of getting them to exercise and eat well without even trying!!

My partner and I run a bicyle shop in East London, and as we spend so much time there we’ve tried to make it as welcoming and enjoyable to be in as we can.

The main way we did this was by filling it with plants (and beautiful bicycles, obvs!) which are pretty much on par with bicycles as our favorite things. I’m just eagerly awaiting spring, when they start to grow like mad.

I’m still learning every day, and have so many questions, so a book like this would be a welcome addition to our reading stack – both for us and our customers!

Fostering and watching life grow. As a perpetually on the move grad student, gardening and taking care of my potted plants around the house is my time to slow down and it’s become a lifestyle. I fill my home with my plants to fill it with life and energy while I live alone. Weekly waterings have become ritual. I strive to keep everything alive and growing, becoming an experimenter in propogating succulents. And my heart skips a beat when I see new sprouts of growth. It balances out the plants that may not make it….which happens with a house sitter. Still, plants bring joy and center me with focus and tenderness… turning me into a Mary Oliver of my home.

Instead of meditating I garden and it gives me peace. Without my garden I will wither and become a mean old man.

I have only recently got my own garden and I am loving it <3
It was in a pretty neglected state and I have been working on bringing it back to life again. I enjoy seeing how the things you plant develop and grow and the wildlife they attract!

I just love the thought of knowing that I’ve grown the food I’m eating myself. Gardening is such a passion of mine which I think is uncommon for a 20 year old male. I’m always looking for new tips and helpful advice to enhance my gardening!!

I don’t have my own garden but I have been enjoying attempting to grow some plants on my windowsill in my flat at the moment.

I’m looking forward to moving home soon and having a garden to play around in and attempt to grow some herbs, hopefully with the sun shining and probably with the dog getting in the way.

i love teaching my daughters to get thier hands dirty and the process and pride of growing something from seed, and even harvesting the seeds in the fall and planting those in the spring. i am always looking to better myself so that i know the best and most effective way to teach them. we will start raised beds in our yard this year with some basic veggies and a big herb garden. would love to win this book for references for myself throughout my gardening journey!!

I love my garden because last year I moved into an old house with plants already growing that I am learning to take care of. It started off full of surprises as we discovered what was growing, and in our second year, we are making plans to add to it and holding our breath until the raspberries come!

We lived in a block of flats when I was a child and our balcony was just too small to grow anything, though my mum always managed to spruce it up with flowers. Now we have a house with a garden and every year I decide I’ll grow stuff – edible and just simply pretty, good for birds and bees……but I don’t seem to be any good at it. So any help is much appreciated!

Gardening is an escape to another world that is constantly changing with the weather. You have all the control but no control at the same time. Being connected to nature and being able to use what you grow, bring it inside in pots, in a vase or on a plate really makes it worth all the time spent.

I am fairly new to gardening and plant care. Plants are ever changing– moving through the differnet stages of growth. I love growing my garden in the Northeast because I feel like I grow, change and reflect through the seasons with the plants. There are alwasys new things to look forward to.

I love growing plants because they are my link with nature, they bring me peace and generally make me happy.

Just a college student who wants to dedicate her time not studying to learning real life skills. I have a collection of house plants at home who give me a deep sense of satisfaction to take care of. I’d love to be able to learn more about growing beautiful and useful things in nature.

I love growing my own stuff because it brings me back to myself….it grounds me literally, and allows me just the space to be and enjoy nature in it’s simplest most beautiful state- growth.

I love growing my own fresh herbs to use in my cooking. I don’t have a back yard, but I make the most of the sunny spots on the windowsill and balcony. I am keen to see what else I can grow using this small space creatively!

I am beginning to appreciate the value of growing your own this year. Having travelled North America, filming a documentary about community resilience and sustainability, I felt it was high time when I arrived back in the U.K. to live out what I’d learned and start growing. Queue: moving into a third floor flat with a 1.75m squared balcony. Not much to play with there… Still, I had the determination to grow something, anything, so I read and I researched, planted seeds and made layout plans. I’ve fallen in love with growing and the challenge of limited immediate outdoor space. I’m humbled by the commitment it takes to get my plants to flower and to fruit. Amidst city life, I’m in tune with the weather and the seasons and the direction of the sun. I’m a grower getting started with a determination to show – even just to myself- that it can be done and to share that journey with other people. To me, Alice’s book would be like a lighthouse guiding me in the right direction and that I think is the reason I would love to win one of the copies of How To Grow Stuff.

Theres nothing more relaxing then pottering around your garden ,tending your plants. You can forget all your cares and woe. Its like an outdoor gym and mediation area combined.Fresh air, exercise and growing things is just the best thing for your health if you are lucky enough to have a garden. i appreciate mine every day

My garden may be small but for me it is a special place; my haven, my piece of heaven, where I can sit and put the world to rights while admiring my hard work…

I have finally got my garden in a state to be able to grow things and I’m very excited to get started, starting with the sweet peas I have started growing from seed on my windowsill, I’m hoping they will start enjoying the outdoors as much as I do once they are big enough. Fingers crossed for this competition so I can get the most out of my garden by learning how to grow stuff!!

I love my garden because it makes me feel happy & relaxed being outside, I love seeing flowers pop up and the changing colours from yellow daffodils to pink geraniums. Living in London it’s amazing to have my own patch of green space! Although most of the seeds I plant sadly rarely make it outside! (I haven’t quite mastered the watering balance…!)

Living in a city is hard when you enjoy nature. There’s a lack of plants everywhere and the parks are small. I love seeing green so I started a little windowshelf garden in my student accommodation. Plants help me relax and relieve stress, they give you a greater sense of the world around you and add a little bit of much needed colour to a grey cityscape. I love my “garden” because it helps remind me that that you can have beauty, even in the most hard to reach places

love having my own herbs!