Joesgarden

Today we are back and I am showing you what to do with your real Christmas tree, to waste nothing and stop it ending up just being thrown away. A lot of us are going to be throwing out our Christmas trees over the next week, but instead of just letting them go to waste they have so many amazing garden uses. I like to remove the branches, which is pretty easy on Christmas trees as the wood is quite soft. These branches can then be used as a much to help protect your garden soil, as a ground covering. This will help improve your soil for the next growing season, and works especially well if you are growing plants that prefer slightly acidic soil too. The needles also are fantastic if you want to infuse some vinegar to make an all purpose natural cleaner, which can be used around the house. The longer you let the needles infuse the vinegar the more fragrant and powerful it becomes. If you are worried about the smell of vinegar, please don’t as this disappears if you leave the mixture to infuse for a week. And finally the trunk can be used as a rustic plant support for climbing plants such as runner beans, clematis, climbing roses, tomatoes, cucumbers or my favourite which are garden peas. I hope you are all having a lovely week so far, thank you for watching, and I love you all, Joe #zerowaste #christmastree #gardening #Sustainability

Today we are back and I am showing you how we can use some of our old food scraps, to grow even more fresh food completely for free. It is worth noting there are so many more ways you can grow scraps at home, but these four I think have to be my favourite. Food prices are getting higher and higher, so along side using every part possible in your cooking, I like to have some fun and regrow off cuts where possible. I would like to mention, not all scraps you might have seen be regrown will actually be edible. Two great examples are lettuce and carrots. Lettuce will usually bolt when regrown, which is great for saving seeds, but the leaves are bitter and carrot tops, will also only regrow the seeds to plant next year too. If you live in a warmer country a great one to try is pineapples. Simply plant the top spike part of your pineapple in the soil and it will regrow. However, while this is fun, it will take at least two years 😊 Growing food scraps at home might not solve world hunger, but it’s certainly a fun way to maximise the usage of your food, and it is actually quite fun too. It is also a great way to get the kids involved with gardening, in a pretty fast and visual way too. I hope you are all having a lovely week so far, and thank you for watching, I love you all, Joe 😊💚🌱 #foodscraps #zerowaste #Sustainability #gardentips #growyourown

Today we are back, and I am showing you one of my favourite ways to use up any overripe fruit, to not only turn it into a delicious and healthy snack for you and your family, but also a great way to store it for many more months. You can use slightly mushy or overripe fruit or even frozen fruit, but please do not use fruit that has mould. You can also use fruit that isn’t overripe, but I’ve found the results to be not quite as good. If you garden like me, you often end up with a glut of fruit, which simply doesn’t last very long. Making fruit leather like this is such a brilliant way to store it for many months, with no issues. Simply blend any mixture of fruit (my favourite is one apple, one banana and a small bowl of strawberries) and spread over a non stick surface. I use a silicone mat, but you can use baking paper too. You want this layer to be about 2-4mm thick. As we are using overripe fruit which is usually pretty sweet, there is no need to add sugar or honey. To dehydrate you can use your oven on its lowest setting, or even in some older ovens just the lamp will work to dry it out. If you have a log burner placing it on top will also work, or you can use a dehydrator. For me it usually takes about 2:30 hours on my ovens lowest setting and I make five batches at once. On my smart meter this cost about £1.85 for those wondering 😊 Store in a jar, or enjoy straight away! I hope you are all having a lovely week, and I love you all, Joe 😊💚 #fruitleather #zerowaste #preserving #ecotips #Sustainability

Today we are back and I am showing how to turn those fallen autumn leaves into pure garden gold, and the best part is, not only is it easy to do, it’s completely free! This time of the year fallen leaves are everywhere, and they have such an amazing use. Using leaves is the ultimate recycling as it’s natures way of rejuvenating the soil on the forest floor. As leaves start to break down, mainly due fungal decomposition they form a compost like structure called leaf mould/mulch. This is packed full off goodies your plants will love. To make leaf mulch simply collect up some fallen leaves, making sure there are no animals inside, and bag it all up. I like to chop my leaves down to speed up the process, and then poke some drainage holes in the bottom. Your leaf mould will be ready the following year, but I find it’s best after about 18 months. Once it’s ready mix it into your soil, or layer it on as a mulch to grow the biggest and best plants possible. It is also important to not upset the balance of your local environment too much, so please source your leaves from a concrete surface where possible and always only take what you need, leaving plenty behind for nature. A big pile of leaves is not only fun for us to jump into, but it’s the perfect winter home for many of our garden friends. 😊 Thank you for watching, and I love you all, Joe 😊💚🌱 #leaves #fallenleaves #leafmould #gardening #gardentips #zerowaste #Sustainability

Today we are back and I am showing you one of many up and coming cooking tips to waste nothing this festive cooking period. I know it might seem a little early to talk Christmas, but I’ve got so many tips coming, I need to start now or I will run out of time 🤣 Traditionally many citrus fruits are at their best (or as I say in the video tastiest, which is definitely a word 😉) throughout the festive months. So why not keep some of the peels and use them to enhance our cooking? The reason why I love using zero waste cooking tips on citrus fruits is because I prefer not to compost them. In small amounts it is okay, but I’ve found large quantities of anything acidic such as citrus, really upsets the balance and is best avoided. When using peels always make sure to wash them thoroughly in warm water to remove any nasties that might be on them, and I always recommend organic or from local grocery or farmers markets. However, I know this can be expensive, so don’t feel bad using supermarket ones, they will work just as well! To dehydrate skins it’s always best to go low and slow! A dehydrator or air fryer with a dehydrator option will give the best results, but if that’s not an option the lowest setting on your oven or sat on a wood stove will work too. I’ve stored my powder before with no issues for a good few months, but usually it is all used throughout December. I hope you are all well, thank you for watching and I love you all, Joe 😊🌱💚 #citrus #citruspeels #zerowaste #Sustainability #ecotips

Today we are back and I thought I would show you the entire growing journey of the potatoes we planted back in August, in the hopes we could grow our own fresh potatoes to use for Christmas lunch. This week it was time to harvest our Christmas containers which I was hopeful would be full of potatoes. It’s always so exciting to harvest crops that grow under the soil like potatoes as you have no idea what you are going to get. If you are wondering why I cover the potato foliage back over with soil once it appears, that is to stop the sunlight reaching the tubers. If sun gets to your potatoes then they will turn green, and it’s not a myth, green potatoes are actually poisonous. I love to grow potatoes in containers and pots, as it’s super easy to harvest them and they take up very little room. Just make sure your containers have drainage holes in the bottom, otherwise your tubers may rot. Simply give your potatoes a big water once or twice a week and when they are in full bloom they will benefit from a by weekly feed with a fertiliser such as liquid seaweed. And after about 60- 120 days after planting you will have your very own fresh potatoes. If you want smaller potatoes but lots of them plant more per container, whereas plant less if you want bigger but fewer potatoes 😊🌱 Thank you so much for watching, and I love you all, Joe 😊🙏💚🥔 #growingpotatoes #containergardening #gardentoplate #potatoharvest #christmaspotatoes

Today we are back and I am showing you how and when to plant one of my all time favourite flowers, the tulip! They come in all sorts of colours and sizes, and for me are a must in every garden/balcony or window box. When it comes to growing tulips there really is no work involved. I spend about 15 minutes planting in November/December and then that’s it. Trust me, your future self from next spring will be so happy, so spent a few minutes planting now. You can grow tulips in borders, raised beds or in your lawn, but my favourite has to be in pots! Now you may have seen lots of people doing a bulb lasagna which is fab, but I like to leave tulips on their own, as I plant them a little bit later than the rest. Now is the perfect time to plant as we have had some frosts, and it’s starting to get cold. A few people might think this is too many bulbs for one pot, but trust me, if you want the most striking displays, you have to load up your containers! Just make sure to protect from the squirrels, as they really can’t get enough of tulips and will dig up every last one! Remove this mesh next spring when they start to appear. I hope you are all having a lovely week, thank you for watching, I love you all, Joe 😊🌱💚 #tulips #plantingbulbs #gardeningtips #Sustainability

Today we are back and I am sharing with you another of my favourite zero waste ways to use up your in season citrus peels. This time of the year, I can’t get enough of citrus fruits and you can use the peels to make the most delicious traditional, seasonal snack. This quick zero waste recipe couldn’t be easier, all you need are a few in season citrus peels, which you then slice into batons. Now it’s worth noting I’m using home grown fruits, if you are using store bought wash the peels in warm water first. Boil the peels for about 15 minutes, then for the best results it’s a good idea to drain away the water and boil in new water for another 15 minutes. This helps to remove the really strong citrus flavour. If you want a very mild sweet, you can even drain the water and boil in fresh water for a third 15 minutes. Then just make a simple syrup by adding equal parts sugar and water to a pan, and once the sugar has melted add in the peels. The longer you let these simmer the better, but they will be ready after about 15 minutes (I leave them to slow simmer for an hour for the best results). Leave your peels to dry, and you will have the most delicious zero waste Christmas candies. You can even add them to a nice jar with a bow as a little diy gift! They are delicious as they are, but for the best results I like to dip them in melted chocolate and then pop them in the fridge until they set 😊🌱 I hope you are all having a lovely week, and I love you all, Joe #citrusfruit #zerowaste #candiedfruit #seasonalcooking