Growing towards the promise of Spring by Andrew of Andrew's Plants

Andrew of Andrew's Plants contacted welovebearwood and told us why he is excited that Spring is on its way.

"We are coming to the end of the winter, the evenings are slowly beginning to lengthen, we are beginning to wake to sunshine peeping through the curtains and even more gradually life is beginning to return to the garden. This week one of my twitter followers likened spring to nature’s signal to start a party. I couldn’t agree more.

The natural party of 2012 has not begun just yet but preparations are well under way. During the past few weeks I have been pruning back and tidying up stock ready for life to return. There is something so exciting about a freshly weeded and pruned container plant – ready to burst into life and make a fine addition to somebody’s garden. I look at these containers and see them brimming over with potential – and I find that very exciting.

Spring can seem so close and yet so far at this time of year. That’s why I try to make every effort to bring a healthy growing lifestyle into my home during our chilly wintery evenings. I believe that bringing a living environment into your home is enormously important to your wellbeing both mentally and physically. I try to make sure that as I go through the winter I have an interesting stock of herbs either on my kitchen window sill or in a sheltered position outside my backdoor. This year my windowsill was over crowded and I could barely get out of my backdoor but it’s amazing to be growing your own natural ingredients.

It is so important to have this fresh stock to hand to add exciting flavours to your cooking on a cold winter evening. A sprig of Thyme can transform a chicken dinner. Lemon Thyme adds a completely different flavour to the same dish. Both are really hardy and look great during the winter. Whenever I leave the house I run my hands over the Lemon Thyme – I love the scent. It’s also really nice to have a selection of herbs to compliment your salads. Burnet Salad is a nice addition to most salads as is Celery Leaf. If you haven’t tried either of these plants I suggest that you do soon! A few Wild Rocket plants will provide you with a good crop on dark nights when you need to see greenery on your plate the most.

For basic cooks like myself I love sprinkling herbs onto a dish and feeling like a celebrity chef. More importantly I think that maintaining a growing lifestyle throughout the winter is profoundly healthy. It maintains a link to the changing seasons while allowing you to experience the growing season for 12 month of the year. It gives us reason to be hopeful about the return of spring."

For more information please check Andrew's Plants website and facebook page.