Inside our homes, we can choose exactly the paint colour we want. But in the garden, nature is in charge.
And working with nature rather than trying to control it can save you time, effort or money. For example, if you encourage wildlife, they’ll eat many of your pests. Then you don’t have to buy pest control products.
That’s the philosophy behind the Middlesized Garden, and to spread the idea that, in gardening, ‘there are no mistakes only experiments’, we’ve designed a range of Middlesized Garden t-shirts, hoodies and tote bags . They’re made of natural, organic materials by Teemill, using renewable energy in the manufacturing. And this weekend – 5th/6th November 2022, there’s free postage & packing on all orders.
Our niece Irene modelling the ‘If at first you don’t succeed, plant, plant & plant again’ hoodie in Navy. Her verdict? ‘A really good hoodie, very comfortable.’
I often interview head gardeners and garden designers. It’s so valuable to hear gardening tips directly from people who are gardening now. And they all admit that plants have failed on them over the years. Yet they’ve also enjoyed glorious, unexpected successes, and that’s what makes gardening so interesting. So that’s the thinking behind the ‘If at first you don’t succeed, plant, plant & plant again’ t-shirt, hoodie and tote bag.
As Monty Don once told me: ‘We gardeners think we’re the conductor of our own orchestra. But we’re really more like the janitor putting out the chairs at the beginning and end of the performance.’
This is the stone blue version of the ‘Gardeners Learn by Trowel & Error’ hoodie. Ever since it arrived, I’ve worn it more than almost anything else, because it’s so soft and easy to wear.
The ‘Gardeners Learn by Trowel & Error’t-shirt in stone blue. This is becoming a popular saying amongst gardeners – because, as a boss of mine once said: ‘People who don’t make mistakes don’t make anything.’ The t shirts are made of organic cotton in factories powered by renewable energy, and they’re printed on demand so there’s no waste.
This unisex hoodie in black reminds you that if a plant fails, it means there’s a gap in the garden. And, to many gardeners, a gap is an exciting opportunity to plant something else…
While I wouldn’t label myself as an ‘organic gardener’, I try to use the minimum amount of chemicals and to garden in a sustainable and wildlife friendly way. So I’m really pleased to be working with Teemill on this range, because they use natural materials, such as organic cotton. They manufacture using renewable energy and they send out products in plastic-free, recyclable packaging. And each product is print-on-demand, so that cuts waste and means we don’t manufacture too many t shirts, hoodies or tote bags. See the full range at the Middlesized Garden Teemill store here.
