Woolgro Vegetable Varieties wool mats product reviews

I was lucky to receive one as part of a prize and as a novice gardener, I was keen to try it out. It is a simple product to use with clear instructions on the back of the pack. Once you have cleared a space in the soil, it is simply a case of opening the pack and rolling out the wool mat which is impregnated with seeds (and presumably manure). I lightly covered the mat with soil and watered it lightly as instructed.

The only problem I had was that the edges of the mat became uncovered, I think this was due to the sprinkler I was using, rather than animals digging it up.

Keeping it moist with regular watering, I was pleased to see a variety of veggies sprouting. Being a novice gardener I wasn't always certain what type of things were growing. It was a bit of trial and error in judging what and when to pick but there were some huge radishes, carrots and parsnips (I think that's what they were!).

In conclusion, this is a very easy product to use and ideal for children, novice gardeners or people short on space and time.

I was lucky enough to win one of these in a competition and because my garden was totally full of vegetables at the time I stored it safely away in the darkest corner of the bottom of our pantry. A couple of months later and I have now "planted" the mat and have already seen results!

I read the instructions which were really easy to understand, I couldnt help but think this would be the perfect thing to use with all the children I work with (under five year olds). The packaging is simple but great, eco-friendly (or at least it seems this way) and a clear window so you can see the product you are buying. I followed the directions and did everything i was meant to do, digging the dirt, I cut the mat before laying it and covering it with some more potting mix. Lastly I watered and then left the garden to work its magic.

The next night when I came back to water I noticed either our cat or the neighbours had been digging at the mat - we actually havent had this problem with the rest of the garden but for whatever reason they loved this mat and I had continued problems over the next week, each evening or day they would dig it up and the following evening I would patiently cover it back up with dirt.
I have no idea why it didnt work but for $14.95 im willing to buy some to give it another go in a different part of my garden, so fear not this hasnt made me not want to do it. I might even just get the kids to do it all it might work that way.

Even with all of this (which is totally not down to the product) we now have little carrots and radishes growing! Woohoo :) Totally recommend to others, especially if you want something for your children to do or just something a little different!

When I was given a chance to review the kids rainbow mix I jumped at it. It seemed easy enough and anyone could do it. I read the instructions really easy to understand. The packaging is great with a clear window, and the tag you can use as a garden sign so you dont forget where you plant this interesting new item.

Now i followed the directions and did everything i was meant to dug some dirt, cut the mat in half and put it on the dirt that I dug and then covered with a bit of potting mix. I lightly watered both of the halves.

After 8-10weeks i checked them and nothing had grown for me, but the grass coming up though it, all the seeds were gone off the mat and well i guess it just didnt like me.

I have no idea why it didnt work but for $14.95 im willing to buy some to give it another go in a different part of my garden, so fear not this hasnt made me not want to do it. I might even just get the kids to do it all it might work that way.

So if you dont like gardens and you like easy ways this would be the way to do it. Just pick an area that you have had veges grow before is my guess. Good luck

Variety: Kids Rainbow Mix

We received the Kids Rainbow mix variety of the Woolgro wool mat and we love it. What an ingenious idea...so simple and easy to use, even for the most rookie of gardeners. It seems like it is one of those things where you just can not go wrong.

Its as simple as, opening the packet, sizing up your wool mat, putting it in, covering it a little with soil, watering it and watching it grow...within days! The results are not instant or over night but they almost feel like they are: We had our first sprouts of life within 14 days. The kids were so so excited, and since the first signs of life they have just got bigger and bigger, much to miss 6's delight who absolutely loves gardening but has very little patience...kind of like me really.

The only possible downside to the wool mat is its obvious appeal to animals...every time our dog was let out into the front yard (we figured there was safer than in the back where our vege garden is) she automatically went straight for the garden with the vege mat in it, and twice she pulled it out too. This shows how hardy and awesome these things are, because even though it was uplifted it did not hinder the growth or die off. We have also had severe cold wind and rain down here since planting which has had no adverse effects either. Perhaps if the weather was warmer, the growth may be quicker, but they are still doing exceptionally well.

We love the Woolgro wool mat and can not wait to try more varieties and at under $15 a pack, why wouldn't we? They really are fantastic value for money. i also love that the packaging is simple and made from recycled material and the mat is eco friendly. They are fantastic in more ways than one.

Variety: Multi-cut Lettuce

Being of an age where physical activity isn't the easiest, it's great I have a semi-willing clan of helpers. A courier visit always seem to precede a spur of the moment visit from some of the whanau who all live within sight of each others' houses. Usually it's the mokopuna, but this was one of the rare good times when a couple of my tamariki also came over. With their help, we got some gardening done.

With eating healthy becoming almost a luxury, it was good to show the younger generations that it's not so hard to eat well when you respect the land and use the right materials. That this product breaks down into more nutrition for the crop, it was a winner before I even opened the bag. Pulling the mat out surprised me with just how big a surface I could plant in one easy sitting, but we don't have a lot of garden space so we chopped the mat into eight pieces and the five os us planted one each. I let my daughters take a couple of the remaining pieces home for their little ones to enjoy too.

The instructions on the bag were very clear, and you are reminded of the proper planting technique by a very unsubtle insert wrapped in the mat itself, stating that you need to plant the mat paper-side down in big, bold red letters. This was a wonderful way to make sure the best results are achieved even by those who turn their nose up at reading the manual. "Aww Koro, it's so simple eh!" stated one of the mokopuna, as he started to lay the mat down the wrong way up. His embarrassed grin when he was shown the reminder was a great lesson to the others, who all made sure their pieces were placed right way up.

After that, it was down to me. Even with limited movement, I can still water the garden easily enough so keeping the planted patched wet was no trouble. The rain did it for me when my arthritis wouldn't let me. It's been a few weeks now, ad the sprouts are coming up a treat. I am seeing the different sprouts and none of them look like weeds, but I will wait a little while longer. I almost lost one patch thanks to the careful attentions of a neighborhood cat, but after a chicken wire cage was made for me and pegged in place over that piece of mat, I haven't had any further issues.

Although it will still be a while until I can harvest a decent crop, the results look very promising for a lot of delightful salads over the warmer months. Nothing is better than having the whanau around me, with the older boys doing the hangi in the pit out back, the mokopuna yelling up a gleeful storm in the front yard, and everyone just renewing their family bonds over good kai. This year, the younger ones can enjoy the fact they played a part in it all too, by helping old Koro grow the salad greens. I plan to buy plenty more of these, and some of the other mat varieties, for gifts and to repopulate the garden after it's 5-yearly purge and fallow in 8 months time.

Variety: Kids Rainbow Mix

Well firstly I love the packaging that the Woolgro mat comes in. You can see what you are buying and the packaging makes this perfect as a gift (especially to a young gardner).

The Woolgro mat is quite large but you can cut it to fit what ever space you have available. We cut ours to put in different areas of the garden and so we could plant out over a few weeks.

The instructions are easy to follow. You put the mat on some decent dug over soil and sprinkle on a bit more and water frequently.

My first challenge was keeping the cats away. My cats went nuts over this and every morning I would find the mats dug up. I think the smell of the wool was what did it. I eventually put up a little barrier and managed to save most of the matting. In future I will put netting over until the seedlings come through.

My second challenge was our pet lamb. An orphan, I think she is still after a mother and adopted one of our patches. I have had to completely fence off that patch!

Keeping this in mind I still haven't had as much success with these mats as I would get from using seed strips or my toddlers approach of throwing a whole packet of seeds in the garden. I wonder if this isn't the best time of year to plant as it has been quite cold so I may see more seedlings germinating with the warmer weather.

I am not sure that the Woolgro has given any more success to my garden than traditional methods but several seedlings have survived from each section of mat I planted and I look forward to nurturing them to maturity.

I think these mats are a great way to easily sow your garden and if you can cat proof them in the early stages you are probably guaranteed of a decent crop. I wouldn't pay $14.95 to use these in my own garden but would consider this a good buy for a present.

Variety: Kids Rainbow Mix

My daughter had been banging on about growing some vegetables in the last month. So it was good fortune for us to be selected to trial this product. We were given the kid's rainbow mix to try.

It took us a while to have a dry afternoon to do the planting. I cleared a small section of garden and got the woolgro mat out of the packet. My daughter immediately turned up her nose. For one thing she had wanted seeds, and for the other the mat smells like "wees and poos".

I personally found this stuff really good and easy to use. I followed the instructions as best I could. I found the mat easy to cut to size, with just a pair of scissors. It was easy to place in the garden and cover. Watering wasn't an issue, and the rain being so heavy I hardly had to lift a finger. Frankly that's my skill level in the garden so I was stoked.

I can now see radishes growing up out of the dirt. I'm excited for summer salads to come. My daughter enjoyed getting out and watering the patch as well. I do think I may have put too much dirt on top, but I didn't have any issues with soil washing away either.

At $14.95 a packet, I'd say its worth it. It is reduced hassle, and it's very kid friendly (as long as they can handle the whiff). It's like a packet mix of cake but for the garden. It would make a neat addition to a Christmas present if you had a keen little gardener. Or if you know someone who would like to try growing their own yummy vegetables.

Variety: Kids Rainbow Mix

I stumbled across these veggie mats thanks to a eco-conscious friend raving about the Green Urban Living website. I browsed the site for ages, looking at all the great products and tips, and decided to re-ignite my passion for gardening and growing, before it got to summer and it was too hot!

I purchased the Kids Rainbow Mix mat, as I liked the sound of all the colours of the vegetables, and thought my oldest daughter would enjoy having a rainboq garden.

I planted my mat about a month ago, and it was as easy as pie - well, as laying out a mat actually - and simple to cut to size too. It is really simple, and hard to muck up, to be honest - which is great for a newbie/inexperienced gardener like me!! The longest part of planting it was weeding and preparing my garden first!!

So far everything is growing really nicely - and I am SO looking forward to tasting the "veggies of my labour". Even though the mat itself protects the seeds from birds, i still opted to have a mesh net over the top - mostly because in the first week I found both my cats sleeping on the garden, as it was warm!!!

I love the fact that the mat is "recycled" - using sheep dag (poo) wool and so also contains lots of nutrients at the same time. I found the wool mat kept a lot of the weeds down as well - which is a HUGE plus!!

This is really a great idea, and a great gift for yourself, or others - to give gardening a go, with a bit of help!

Variety: Kids Rainbow Mix

I planted my Woolgro Kid's Rainbow Mix 18 days ago on a rare fine day in what has been a very wet month. My homebased carekids helped me to weed the patch of garden and dig it over in preparation for laying down the mat. I must say that the preparation was the only part that took time as everything else was so quick and easy.

I cut the mat in half so it would fit in the area we had cleared. It was much easier to cut than I expected with my regular scissors. Once I laid the mat down I went off to find some potting mix. When I returned a couple of minute later on top of the mat was the biggest worm I had ever seen. Soon other worms came to join it. This demonstrated how full of nutrients the mat must be. Unfortunately my hands were far too dirty to be photographing this event.

With all the wet weather Mother Nature did the watering for me and when I ventured out to check on my new garden a week later the cats had discovered my new garden too. The potting mix had been scraped away and the mat was in a scrunched up heap. Even with its rough beginnings I could see the roots of a couple of plants. I raided my clothesline and pegged out the mat and covered it with soil again. The cats have continued to scrape the soil off the mat. The mat has protected the plants form being dug up. The radishes have sprouted and continue to grow. I am sure the carrots aren't far away from appearing either.

The price is very reasonable and this would make a great gift for child or a gardener. The fact that is recycling waste is a bonus. It is such a clever idea.

Update: 31 October 2012
I have just harvested the largest radishes I have ever seen. Some were the traditional red colour and others were a lovely purple colour. The largest ones were the size of golf balls. They tasted delicious and had much more flavour than the ones you buy in the store.