With the excesses of Christmas out of the way, there is a fitting air of sobriety in January which chimes with the bleakness of the winter weather. The shortest day has passed, so lengthening daylight hours provide something positive to Read more »
Want to double your productivity this year? The technique of sowing or transplanting a second crop between ones soon to finish increases productivity, especially valuable if you have a small growing area. For instance last year, leeks sown in April Read more »
A recent acquisition of a new, old, bookcase has afforded me the opportunity to dig out some of my old gardening books. Having been forced to perform an emergency, spine re-glueing operation, on a small, green, volume—I couldn’t resist perusing Read more »
At last, a month when there is nothing to sow! In the mild weather, our vegetable garden is looking good where we transplanted lots of turnips, rocket, Mizuna and lettuce as we gradually removed summer crops in September and October. Read more »
Even if, up to now, it’s been possible to pretend that winter is ‘a long way off’, now that the clocks have gone back it really does feel that the garden has entered a new phase. Time is running out Read more »
Growing salads is easy in the spring when their leaves are at their most tasty and sweet, but needs more thought and effort at other times. Lettuce are the backbone of our salads throughout the year. They are tricky in Read more »
Every year is different. After a hot and dry June and July, we expected the usual wet and dismal school holidays. But no, you can never gainsay the weather. This year we have been scrabbling around for tomato recipes, as Read more »
Another month when it’s largely a case of ‘steady as she goes’ and not ‘all hands to the pump’ – as long as the weather behaves itself. The process of putting the garden to bed, which began last month, continues Read more »
Tomato maintenance this month is brinkmanship with blight about, although at the time of writing we have had less rain than most and there is no blight, even on potatoes, and what a pleasure that is. Blight strikes tomatoes just Read more »
Writing about the my cacti last month, regarding how they were luxuriating, outdoors, may have tempted fate a little because we have had a fair amount of rain since then. Having said that, we really did need it and it’s Read more »