We’ve got a guest writer for this post. Thanks to them for some inspirational writing and ideas…

“It was my brother who started the whole thing off. Cycling to work instead of travelling by van he began to enjoy the lovely Sussex landscape at a more leisurely pace. However it was the neglected, bare verges and a dull, large roundabout on his route that caught his eye and prompted his request for some ‘seed bombs’. These are small capsules of soil and seed that he wanted to launch as he rode past with the aim that they would green-up his view on the way to work and provide flowers for bees and butterflies. Having always been keen on the idea of ‘guerilla gardening’ and with three young sons that are heavily into weaponry of any kind, especially the type that involves mud, I was only too happy to assist.

‘Green Guerillas’ (started by Liz Christy in the US, and now worldwide, are a group of anonymous individuals who set about transforming neglected public spaces with plants but without permission), first listed recipes for seed bombs back in the 1970’s. These were made from balloons or old Christmas baubles filled with seed, fertiliser and water ready to be thrown onto inaccessible sites giving the seed the best chance to germinate and flourish. Modern versions are more eco-friendly but just as ingenious, some use blown egg-shells as the carrier others are launched from seed guns or rockets. I opted for the low-tech, mud-ball version, but for anyone who wants to stay clean and still have a go you can even buy ready-made, grenade-shaped bombs (www.kabloom.co.uk) - but where’s the fun in that!

Having rifled through my seeds I found some quick-growing annuals that bees will love; poppies, calendula and cornflowers. I borrowed a few spadefuls of heavy clay soil from a neighbour as mine is too sandy and the bombs need this to stick together. First step was to break the clay up, removing any stones and small twigs, add compost (about 1:3) to lighten the texture, then just enough water to make a dough the consistency of pastry and pinch off small handfuls to roll into golf-ball sized bombs. To add larger seeds such as calendula make a hole with the end of a pencil, drop in a few and re-seal . As poppy seeds are tiny, we rolled these firmly into the surface or they can be mixed in before adding the water. The seed bombs are then dried out till you’re ready to use them so they develop a nice hard coat and don’t break up when they hit the ground. Left in ideal conditions our bombs showed signs of germination in five days.

Whatever your weapon of choice, before you launch there is a general seed bombing code of conduct; always use seed from wildflowers indigenous to your area, don’t throw onto private property as this may legally be considered an act of vandalism or onto farmland and don’t make your bombs from anything that won’t decompose rapidly. To improve success choose fast-germinating annuals and target bare soil with a forecast of rain ahead.

My boys loved the whole process of making seed bombs and I’ll repeat it with the school garden club to green up an area in the grounds. Although I’m not sure how successful this method is as you’re direct sowing and leaving nature to her own devices, it’s still a fun way of spreading the eco-word. I’ve handed our prototype bombs over to my cyclist brother and will keep you posted with news. If you fancy a bit of guerrilla gardening yourself read Richards Reynolds on Guerilla Gardening: A handbook for gardening without boundaries.”

The writer, her brother and her three sons wish to remain anonymous.......

Having just finished the Country Living Spring Show I'm left with several over riding memories. One is of how lovely my fellow exhibitors were, watching each others stands, collecting refreshments and generally keeping each others spirits up throughout the days. Another is of all the positive feedback I received on our products and the stand overall. Thank you to everyone for the useful and appreciative comments. Some people were discovering us for the first time and others were old customers searching us out to say how much they loved what they've bought from us and how lovely they look in their gardens. It was all good to hear! The lovely people at 21st Century Village wrote a great piece about us for their blog on the show too. Have a read and see if you agree with what they say.

But my favourite memory of Country Living 2013 is of my Dairy Godmother, the kind hearter stranger who gifted me a delicious bar of organic chocolate after hearing that I was alone on the stand for the day and in need of 'a pick me up'. Aren't people kind! Thank you again and to all the people who braved the arctic weather to visit us in Islington.

Our next show is for St Catherine's Hospice, The New Horizons Garden and Local Produce Fair in Billingshurst, West Sussex on Thursday 16th May. Join us if you can in raising money for this special charity. Till then!

Kim and Alex

As an organiser of a school garden club I was really keen to read this book - American Grown, The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America by Michell Obama. The book chronicles how Michelle Obama got on when she invited a load of school children to help her with her kitchen garden project at the White House. She started the project in 2009 because of her concerns as a mother with the current rises in childhood obesity and health problems due to poor diet and sedentary lifestyles. She decided to help by encouraging local school children to come and help plant, tend harvest and eat the spoils of a vegetable garden in her back garden. She doesn't do it all by herself of course (and doesn't claim to) the National Park Department (a charity who receive all proceeds from this book) look after the garden and are helped by volunteers from the White House staff and the White House chefs who use the harvest in the kitchen for both everyday fayre and state banquets.

The book tells the story of this garden through the successes and failures, but it also tells of the community it creates. Throughout the book this theme continues with short histories of other community gardens set up throughout the states to encourage people to grow vegetables. Many of these have started as a result of 'food desert or food insecure communities' which describe areas where there are no convenient shops selling fresh produce and poor families struggle to source healthy food for their children. These are organised by some very inspirational individuals and give rise to not just healthy food, but also the benefits of bonding a community.

What comes across in this book is Michelle Obama's enthusiasm and the level of importance she gives this topic and with good cause as there are some terrifying stats listed; approximately one in three children in the US are overweight, health problems usually associated with adults are now being seen in children as young as three and even the army has seen a marked decrease in fitness levels of new cadets.

This isn't a 'how to grow', but more of a 'why to grow' vegetables book and leaves you in no doubt as to the health benefits for individual and communities. It has left me inspired for my small school garden club and also makes me realise how lucky I am to have the space and know how to grow my own.

Rebekah Panayides (writer, horticulturalist and sister to Alex)

Following my last blog on forthcoming events, we've decided to attend the Country Living Spring Fair next week. It's on from Weds 20th March until Sunday the 24th at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London. We'll be exhibiting our full obelisk range, contemporary arches and our new sculptural figures. We showcased them at the RHS show last month - they were the most ordered piece at the show! They're being added to our website as I type, so you can check them out online soon.

Hopefully some of you will make it to London next week. Pop to the stand and say hi. It's always nice to see familiar faces!

We’ve already kicked off the new season with our first show in London last week. The RHS’s Plant and Design Show in Vincent Square has been our first show for a couple of years now. We love its relaxed atmosphere and spacious pitches. You’re greeted at the door by smiling people and the heady scent of hyacinths, and daffodils, the perfect antidote to the long winter months.

Lots of visitors to our stand were asking about our show schedule for this year. Truthfully we tend to make it up as we go along, but this is a rough breakdown:

St Catherine’s Hospice, New Horizons Garden & Local Produce Fair, Billingshurst, 16^th May

Plant & Garden Fair, Pashley Manor, Ticehurst, Kent 19^th May

Floral Fringe, Bignor Park, Near Petworth, 1-2^nd  June

The Garden Show, Stansted Park, Near Havant, 7-9^th June

We are also hoping to be exhibiting at Rose Cottage in Bosham, home of local artist Jan Guest this summer. Jan holds several exclusive events throughout the year when she opens her studio to other local makers. This summer’s event will have a garden theme and we’ll post more details on it when we get them.

As many of you know Moore Designs is a family business, Alex and I have two young boys so we’ve decided to keep show local this year so we can both be around to enjoy some of the better weather together. We’d love to do Chelsea or even Hampton Court again, but we think our family needs to be our priority for a few years more.

If you know of a regional event that you think would be good for us, get in touch, we’d love to hear about it.

It might be cold out there but it's beautiful too. Our obelisks and especially our spheres make amazing sculpturtural effects in the snow and frost. Here are a couple of our favourite winter pictures. If you have any that you'd like to share, send them in and we'll put them on our blog.

Our arches look great in this winter wonderland too. The ones at the workshop are currently doubling as bird feeders. Bec, Alex's sister, (affectionately known as sister) saw a nuthatch in the week. She's trying to get a picture for the website, but is gaining a whole new respect for wildlife photographers as the pesky mites won't keep still. Fingers crossed I'll have something to show you soon.

Having my own business and two young children means I’m always late doing anything in the garden, so it won’t surprise you to hear that I didn’t sow my sweet peas in the autumn. “Don’t worry”, says my ever positive sister-in-law (she used to write for Gardening Which and several other titles, so she knows what she’s talking about), “all is not lost, you can sow them now.” 

Obviously it’s more than a little cold out there, so sister-in-law advises that I keep them inside until they start to germinate and then put them out into a cold greenhouse or under a cold frame. Incidentally, sister-in-law is also rather eco, so uses old toilet rolls to sow her seeds into, plus they’re then super easy to transfer when you’re ready to plant them out and the cardboard biodegrades nicely.

I asked whether it was safe to put anything out into my slug and snail infested garden, but apparently at this time of the year, it’s mice you have to worry about, not our slimy garden friends. Mice love sweet pea seeds, so if you have a problem with them – I saw one in my garden only this morning – soak your seeds in paraffin or seaweed fertiliser, which mice definitely don’t like. 

Once your seeds start to germinate, pinch out the growing tip to encourage side growth. Then all you’ve got to do is wait for the warmer weather to plant them out, April/May should do it for spring sown sweet peas. I plant mine around our Classic and Tall Classic obelisks, they’re wide flared tops are perfect for showing off the best of these lovely plants. Sister-in-law does the same, so I think I’m finally on the right track.

We've just spent a thoroughly enjoyable three days at Rose Cottage in Bosham at the invitation of local artist Jan Guest. For the last 12 years she's held a Christmas open house and invited other makers to exhibit with her, raising money for Cancer Research UK.

The venue is beautiful, a converted cottage just off the coast in beautiful Bosham. The company was warm and friendly and the work being exhibited, an extremely high standard. Artist Lou Johns brought her evocative figures along. She crafts their graceful forms from wire and plaster, or casts them in bronze and silver. Their chiselled forms were incredibly moving. Mike Savage's shimmering fish and birds swayed happily in Rose Cottage's pretty garden despite the sometimes unkind weather. Other exhibitors sold jewellery fashined from semi-precious stones or cast in silver, delicious jams and spicy chutney's, bold ceramics and architectural bowls made from recycled fabrics.

Jan's coastal art was the serene backdrop for everyone's work together with local screen print artist Amanda Mirams fishy creations. The scent of mulled wine filled the air while happy shoppers munched mince pies and chatted with the artist makers. Turning her household upside down for the best part of 5 days every year probably isn't most people's idea of a fun run up to Christmas but Jan and her family were the perfect hosts and raised nearly £1k in the process for the cancer charity.

Well done Jan, thank you and I'm looking forward to next year.

After a long dark winter in the workshop, I was lucky enough to be out and about in the glorious sunshine this week. We're exhibiting at a few regional shows and gardens this summer and over the last few days I've been delivering pieces to one of our new venues, Sussex Prairies in Henfield.

If you've never been you must go. Apart from having a selection of our lovely work, there are all kinds of art dotted throughout the gardens. Then there are the 600+ plants (most of them grasses as the name suggests), a specialist nursery and the tasty tea rooms. It's a beautiful venue with a wide open skyline and the ever present whisper of wind through the grasses. If you want you can make a weekend of it you can stay at the house too. Here the lovely Pauline and husband Paul offer some of the best B&B accommodation in Sussex. tempted? Visit their website www.sussexprairies.co.uk for more info, you won't regret it. 

Other places to catch us this year are Avebury Manor until 11th June, Stanstead House near Havant from 15-17th June and Loseley Park from 20-22nd July.