After panic-buying seeds, my plants have all got mixed up – Hayley Matthews

I went through a bit of a mental phase of panic-buying a few months ago.

Hayley Matthews' lettuce plants have been growing in unexpected places (Picture: Stephen Kelly/PA)

However, possibly not panic-buying in the sense you might think. There were no loo rolls, vodka or pasta in my basket as I grabbed packets off the racks in Morrison's.

I broke into a sweat wondering if I'd be able to handle all my packets of seeds that rattled about. Yes seeds. Seeds as in butternut squash, radishes, parsley, chives and lettuce – lots of lettuce. I had romaine, baby gem, round lettuce, rocket and everything in between.

I had a grow bag that I thought would be perfect for my lettuce harvest and set about making rows of tiny little seeds. My plan was to eat only homegrown lettuce this summer.

Within a few weeks they broke ground, peeping their little green arms up to wave at the sunshine and I jumped for joy.

Then one morning I saw something new and unexpected sprout out my jasmine plant. As I watched the strange plant grow over the following weeks, I soon realised that it was a massive lettuce – two of them.

I also thought I'd been growing a sunflower in a pot but, as turns out, it's a butternut squash. I'm either not very good at reading the pictures on the seed packets or someone is messing with me.

Anyway, they've now all been replanted in another grow bag and just as I thought I'd gotten on top of it all, I've found mint growing in between my concrete slabs and a lettuce growing in the cracks of the wall. Anyone fancy coming over for salad and mojitos?!

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