Contest: We All Need Our Own Patch
Posted by Mark Busse on Friday, June 7th, 2013Tags for this Article: gardening, herbs, home, Patch, planter, plants
UPDATE: According to Patch’s former PR and communications partner, it seems the owners of Patch have shut down the business and vanished. This is unfortunate news for those of us who backed their Kickstarter campaign and ordered Patch planters of our own. I hope they get this sorted out and back up and running soon.
They say gardening is good therapy. And I agree.
I come from a small town in southern Manitoba, where I spent much of my youth on the farm. When we moved out west we lived in a suburb, but maintained a large patch of garden in our backyard. It was the 70s and many families grew and harvested their own food. While I’m sure at the time I whined about not wanting to work, I recall fondly planting, watering, weed-pulling, and harvesting herbs, vegetables, and fruit. It really was terrific family time, therapeutic time in the outdoors, and fond memories.
So what happened? Why is it so few of us living in cities have a personal relationship with our food? I’m sure many of you, like me, have purchased live herb plants and tried to diligently keep them watered and healthy, but life is busy, and it’s hard to know just how much to water and when. Growing food at home can be intimidating when you don’t have a natural green thumb—but it needn’t be.
City living typically means buying food at a grocery store, but herbs and greens are terribly expensive and unless you use them immediately turn to wet mush in your fridge. It’s frustrating. And if you live in a small apartment or condo, with limited space or no backyard, a windowsill or small balcony is your best/only option. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to make growing small patches of green at home easy? There is!
Meet Patch, the self-watering planter for herbs and greens.
It’s so easy and economical to grow herbs at home in a Patch planter that a friend recently called it the “Dummies guide to in-house plants.” Once loaded with rich soil, you literally just have keep the reservoir full of water, give it lots of light, and it does the rest! Simple, compact, and good looking I might add (there are some ugly planters out there). No more gazing upon a windowsill full of guilt, instead of a lone rosemary stalk sticking out of soil that smelled a bit off, there is now a full head of living, sweet smelling sprigs. I’ve enjoyed using a Patch recently and love that I can maintain live plants of sage, basil, thyme, and rosemary to add to food at home. It’s a sustainably, healthy food option and frankly just feels better knowing where my food comes from.
For those of you in Vancouver, you’ll be proud to know that Patch is a home-grown project too! Local entrepreneur Kent Houston launched Patch in 2012 fuelled by the idea that anyone could grow food, anywhere. He’s been hustling like crazy to make Patch a viable business ever since. On his motivation, Houston says, “The number one mistake people make, sometimes in life and also with plants, is that they give too little or too much. Under or over-watering a plant has a huge effect on its health, and subsequently your cooking. Keep it blooming my friends by making it easy.”
Speaking of making Patch sustainable, the company is currently in the final days of a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to expand. This seems like a great opportunity to order a Patch of your own before summer arrives and help a local business take off. Learn more about Patch at www.letspatch.com and contribute to their Kickstarter campaign at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/letspatch/self-watering-patch-planter-for-herbs-and-greens-0.
GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment below by June 30th on what you will grow in your Patch and how you’ll use it in your home cooking, and you’ll be entered into a draw to win a FREE Patch planter for your kitchen.
Posted on June 11th, 2013
Kelly Boyd says:
I plan to grow basil and thyme in my Patch Planter. I’m hoping to use it to help teach my toddler about growing food and that we can eat things we grow by using the herbs to flavour our dinners!
Posted on June 11th, 2013
Natalie says:
Definitely a heb garden! I go through herbs like they were lettuce for a salad! Chives, basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, dill….bas many as I can fit!!
Posted on June 11th, 2013
Jodi Chick says:
I’d live to grow an herb garden of pet friendly herbs. We use a ton of them at our house.
Posted on June 11th, 2013
Natalie says:
I would grow dill, that I would add to salad, soups and on top of baby potatoes! It reminds me summers at my grandma’s house where we added dill to everything.
Posted on June 11th, 2013
Sarah says:
Every year I think I want a nice little mint plant in my garden. I convince myself that I’ll drink mojito’s every day and use it in oh-so-many ways. And then it grows and grows and grows and I spend more time cutting it back and pulling it out than I do muddling it for a cold beverage. So maybe this year I’ll put it in a container near the liquor cabinet and actually use it!
Posted on June 11th, 2013
Dani Boy says:
Please, save my green babies from impending death, for I am an unfit mother! All I want is a little kale for my smoothies, a little mint for my mojitos, a little rosemary for my lamb – is that too much for a city girl to ask?!
Posted on June 12th, 2013
Angela Hot says:
I would grow something that will actually stay alive! Patch is a brilliant idea and I would love to grow some tasty herbs.
Posted on June 12th, 2013
Erin Martin says:
I will either plant some mint, which I would use in poundcakes and desserts, or some chives which I use in basically any everyday cooking. Or maybe both!
Posted on June 15th, 2013
Cassandra Anderton says:
I’d plant some mint to use in mojitos, tabbouleh and tea!
Posted on June 23rd, 2013
Tara says:
I will grow thyme and basil and next year beets and mixed salad greens.
Posted on June 25th, 2013
billy says:
LOTS of basil and flat leaf parsley. Maybe rosemary. I can never get enough fresh herbs for my pasta sauces
Posted on July 5th, 2013
Mark Busse says:
Congrats to Natalie and Billy for winning the Patch planters! Watch your email inbox for instructions how to pick up your prize.
Posted on May 17th, 2015
Eleanor Williams says:
I like to plant egg shells with my plant soil and give thanks to God and the saints that my seeds grow like my pepper, mustard,dill and squash seeds and also my onions and potatoes plants which are harvest by me
Posted on September 7th, 2016
Debbie Johnson says:
the perimeter would be tick weed to keep away aphids and mint alternating, beets, sugar snap peas, butter beans, yellow pole beans, blueberry,raspberry and bushes, butter lettuce, radishes and canteloupez, honeydew melonz, and pintoz and punkinz and chocolate and lychee nuts, jojoba, alphalpha, bean sprouts, SPEARMINT AND STAR FRUIT
Posted on December 19th, 2016
John Hodgson says:
These look ideal for small spaces