Pots hanging in trees

[Chantal]

Just seen an article on BBC Breakfast about growing your own veg. They'd had loads of children make small (about 6") pots, which they'd planted up with lettuce, onions, peas etc and then hung in a tree (out of the way of slugs). Admirable idea to get the kids interested, but hardly practical, surely? I had a couple of small pots in brackets on a wall and everything died unless I watered every couple of hours, it was hopeless! Pots blowing in the wind and sun will dry out so fast they'll be dead in no time.

Around here, there'd be nothing left to water in under half an hour as the squirrels would have had the lot.

Am I just being miserable and cynical?

[richard p]

welcome to the cynics club, wouldnt say miserable though, as a confirmed pessimist im often happy when something goes better than expected , optomists must be sad when everything fails to live up to expectations.... sounds like a hanging basket only worse cos of the small size.
several years ago i saw something about a bloke who reckoned you could grow a family's veg in plastic milk containers upside down screwed to the wall. sorry cant remember the details, or whether they ate more than one small salad a month. as an idea it doesnt seem to have caught on..

[PLUMPUDDING]

There will now be a school full of children thinking that is how to grow veg unless they have sensible parents who show them how it should be done. No wonder so many parents are teaching their children at home if that is an example of the stupid ideas they get from school.

I've just noticed it was TV not school, so it will have reached an even larger audience. Yet another weird idea from the media.

[pongeroon]

I thought just the same as you, Chantal. Did I hear the designer say "and there's a pea seedling in there too" ? Mmmmm, that won't feed many kids. Yet another gimmick to make gardening 'cool'. Which we all know it always was anyway. Sometimes the old ways are better.

[peterf]

i seen it also .no wonder people think us gardeners are strange lol

[Chantal]

Another thought, those pots were hanging on bare branches. What happens when the tree comes into leaf? No light for the plants, assuming they've survived that long, and very difficult to harvest as they'll be hidden in the leaves.

[oldherbaceous]

Dear Chantal, i also thought about the leaves, but i thought i would let you bring that point up.