Feeding the Plants from What is around you - Tea Bags

What do you do with them.  Compost them.  Put them in the bin.   At this time of year once a week I start feeding my plants with them.  All the used tea bags are popped into an old tall Kilner jar with a lid. The teabags are popped in and then water added on top.  I keep adding water until the tea is a medium colour.  Then I discard them and add fresh used bags.  This also sits on the kitchen windowsill.  The used bags are then composted.

This was a tip passed on from my Aunty Betty (my uncle Basil's second wife).  They for many years ran a busy bed and breakfast on the Skegness Road about six miles out of Lincoln, called "The Blackbirds".  The property was always surrounded by fantastic flowers in hanging baskets, window boxes and tubs and the flowers and plants in the borders of the garden were also stunning.  

My uncle and aunt ran a smallholding from the premises as well. They had a house cow, chickens and a big vegetable plot.  (My uncle had to give up his Dairy Farm as he developed Angina) but he just could not give his animals up.  He was as soft as grease with animals but not necessarily humans!  He would rather talk to animals than to people.  My mum could not get over how lovely their flowers did until Aunty Betty revealed her secret that she just used the used tea bags.  Apparently the plants like the tannin.  Whatever the reason the plants always do well with the feed.

For many years I had window boxes on the front of the house and hanging baskets.  I used to do them myself.  I loved doing this and got an awful lot of satisfaction from this.  I stopped doing the baskets on the front of the house the year someone pinched my hanging baskets off the front of the house in broad daylight.  To make matters worse that particular year OH had asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I had said plants for my hanging baskets.  So he had bought me all the plants I needed, I had done what was necessary and had really got them coming on lovely and then they were pinched.  I was annoyed and heartbroken and since that time refused to put them on the front. However, I was considering doing them again this year, but with some security additions added,

At one time I used to grow the seeds for the baskets myself but in the end I started buying the plants ready grown as it seemed to give the plants more of a foot forward.  I normally still do them for the back of the house.  I have plans this year for OH to put up some shelves under the windows on wrought iron brackets.  I have six deep planters which I have never used yet and I thought if I had the shelves and then screwed them on to the plank (shelf) bottoms that they could not be nicked so easily.  Due to the current circumstances I am not sure I will be able to source any plants this year which would be a pity as I really enjoy doing these.

Do you prepare your own hanging baskets, window boxes and tubs and what sort of plants do you pop into them?  Would love to hear from you.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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