What plant to grow

We normally only eat a limited variety of plants yet there are thousands of edible plants which are not commercially available yet seeds are often available.

So while you may like to grow the regular plants like lettuce, radish celery, tomatoes etc Gbiota boxes give you the opportunity to try a much wider range.

Many plants can also be grown as baby greens using the tipping or cut and come again method. Baby green are those after sprouting when the nutrients have come form the seed, so there is no benefit from the microbes in the soil but after the plants has put down roots. This is the most productive period in a plants life.

Plants can also be mixed together for mutual benefit. For example one of the healthiest plants to grow is linseed which is a gives a good supply of omega 3 but it is quite slow growing.

But Arugula seeds can also be added when seeding, these grow really fast giving a much longer production period.

I also often add some Spinach cuttings partly because they are thirsty plants so they suck water out of the boxes so reducing the risk of water becoming stagnant but also they just keep on growing summer and winter so these three plant together give a good long production period.

Alfalfa is another plant that can be grown in combination with other plants.

Legumes are highly beneficial for health, I like to grow snow peas where I eat both the leaves and the peas when they eventually come. Broad beans also are good to grow in boxes and can be mixed with faster growing plants. Root crops like radish, carrots and beets are good to grow in combination with baby greens.

Generally they don’t like to be too closely planted so actually grow better is a some seeds are mixed with a fast growing baby green.

In Bundaberg in summer it is difficult to grow many plants because it is just too hot and the insects like cabbage moths and locust can reek havoc but there are plants which seem immune to attack and just love the heat, Kang Kong, Spinach and purple Amaranth can be fall back vegetables for the summer.

It is useful to look at a seed catalogue like Seedmart in Brisbane (https://seedmart.com.au/)