Meet Herboo Founder Henry
For those of you that have followed Mimi’s Bowl for a while you will know I love our small city garden. It is my refuge for a morning coffee and a place where I can decompress. It is a small patch of green but over the past few months it has played such a central part in our family life. I have never appreciated it more. And, it isn’t just me, during lockdown we became a nation of gardeners. In London, on our daily pram walks, balconies and basements became noticeably greener; with everything from pots of tomatoes, to sunflowers springing up.
So, as we quickly slide towards school, how can we squeeze these last few weeks of good weather into our weekends and get our kids outdoors too? According to Henry, founder of Herboo, we need to get planting. If you don’t know Herboo they make beautiful kid's gardening kits, delivered through your letter box. Discover more about their founder and how their business grew!
xx Mimi
meet Herboo founder Henry…
Having worked in brand marketing for the past 10 years including Ralph Lauren and Burberry I started finding myself spending more and more time outside and using gardening as a way to unwind. I grew up in the countryside so was used to being outside. When I moved in with my partner in London, we didn’t have any outdoor space and I would be creative by putting pots on windowsills, or vertical frames in our kitchen, to get my green fix. I started realising that outdoor space in London isn’t an easy ask for some and realised that if I hadn’t have grown up in the countryside I might not have had the same relationship with gardens and nature. It was then my idea of being able to make a garden anywhere started.
Why plants?
It all started when I was very young, I would spend hours with my granny. She would show me bulbs she had planted in the early Autumn, seeds she was sowing in the bathroom, or cuttings from a friend’s garden. I was always fascinated with the stories of each plant and it sparked my imagination and passion for gardening.
& what do you love about your job?
Seeing Herboo customers and kids proudly show me what they have grown from our seeds, or created from our boxes. We share a lot of inspirational content on our Instagram and it always amazes me when you see someone halfway across the world getting creative, based on an idea we have shared.
what’s a typical day look like?
I try at the beginning of each day to take our dog for a good walk in the park, often talking to the gardeners about what is growing well. I try to structure workings days to be creative with new box ideas, holding meetings and of course spending a bit of time gardening!
work/ life balance?
Its a constant balancing act… especially in the start-up phase. What I have learnt is that communication with your partner is so important, both for their support, sound board for ideas and to check in are make sure you are being present in the relationship. We plan time without our phones to remove distractions from work / the outside world. I get a lot of energy from being outside, so often I’ll invariably grab the dog lead and head out to clear my head.
what inspires you?
My nieces, nephews and goddaughter are a real source of inspiration - I love watching them interact with the kids garden box - what they find interesting always surprises me. I love great stories of other people’s experiences – like the work of Carlos Magdalena – author of Plant Messiah a book about discovering the secrets to germinating seeds and saving plant species from extinction. Great historic gardens, artworks and photography shoots, vintage cartoons. I love the gardening community; it is so visual and knowledgeable, and you can really feel the passion for sharing and helping one another.
Favourite gardens, outdoor spaces, walks etc…
Chelsea Physic Gardens are brilliant for plants, and Jon Snow does a great audio tour
In the spring a trip to the waterlilies at Kew Gardens
Kensington Gardens by the Italian Gardens
The gardens at Hauser + Wirth in Somerset which were designed by Piet Oudolf and have the most amazing displays of perennial planting.
When visiting my family in Wiltshire, there is a great walk on top of the hill near Pewsey which has an old iron fort. There are white horse’s carved into the chalk on the hill and it always strikes me how for so many centuries we have had a relationship with the outdoors.
reading, Watching, Listening to?
I have been reading ‘The Second Mountain’ by David Brooks – it is all about exploring 4 areas of life which give it meaning – family, your work, philosophy and community. I’m always listening to a podcast or really enjoy ‘Mythos’ by Stephen Fry on Greek mythology, and we are watching old Poirot series.
favourite family meal, or signature dish?
We have a great love for food at home and enjoy going to the local farmers market for our organic fruit and vegetables – it helps us eat well and seasonally. Most looking forward to eating our red onion squash, with sage its delicious. I also appreciate good coffee and I highly recommend Kiss the Hippo coffee.
& finally for more gardening tips and tricks with kids: read more here
herboo
Herboo sell a curated selection of seeds and kids garden and nature box which changes monthly with the seasons. We really believe a garden can be made anywhere, from a windowsill, to a houseboat. Our kids garden and nature box is all about being creative and using your imagination, to garden.
follow on instagram ~ @herboo
buy…
Seed Shop ~ https://herboo.com/collections/seeds
Garden and Nature Box ~ https://herboo.com/collections/kids-garden-box
visit the website ~ https://herboo.com/