I’ve been flicking through quite a few allotment blogs recently due to my inability to get to my own plot of late. Once you scratch the surface, it turns out there are loads of people spouting on about their sprouts and banging on about their beans.

The last two blogs I’ve been on have something in common. Both Nomegrown and Our Patch of Earth have photos of new seedlings planted in toilet roll tubes. I thought I would match them.

It got me thinking about why using toilets roll tubes as plant pots is so universal. The reason I do it is because it’s something my Dad has always done. Something to do with not disturbing the roots when you plant them out because you plant tube in the soil as well - the tube biodegrades and the roots grow through them. It makes sense. That’s also the thinking with peat pots. They naturally disappear in the soil so they are better for the plant.

This is, of course, all true, but I think there are other reasons as well. First, thrift. I’ve never met anyone who calls themself a vegetable grower who wouldn’t also consider themself to be thrifty. Most of us pride ourselves on it; I certainly do! Using toilet roll tubes is simple a way of getting a second life out of a product. Secondly, I think there is a conscious/ unconscious “green” mentality with veg growers. The biodegradable tube does no harm to the soil at all. And we all know that reusing is better than recycling.

Now I really don’t like it when people bang on about being “green”, so I’ll be careful of what I say. More often than not when people boast about their green credentials it’s one-upmanship trying to be greener than you (I also hate the fact big business has got in on the action - you know something’s up when they get on board). It’s not about being green. It’s about being a vegetable grower. Used toilet roll tubes are in our blood! People who wouldn’t consider using them simply wouldn’t consider growing veg. There is a certain way of working with the soil than makes sense, and once you know about the tubes you’ll never throw another one in the bin again.

So, onto the second photo. One day during the long winter months I was looking for some simple origami, for reasons I won’t bore you with. I stumbled across this page that showed how to make plant pots out of newspapers. At the time I bookmarked the page for future reference. Then, last month, halfway through potting up some sprouting broad bean seeds I ran out of pots. Frustrated with myself I was just about to head out to the DIY shop to buy some more pots when I remembered the website. I gave it ago and these are the results.

I’m pretty happy with them, as are the broad beans. I haven’t tried to shift them from the tray - I don’t think the paper is strong enough. But they’ve kept the beans growing happily for about three weeks now and the only time I will need to move them is when I plant them out. Motivation? Thrift. Green? Yes - but primarily as a by-product. Being green is part of growing veg - it doesn’t have to be, but when it’s done right, it seems to come naturally.

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