Gardening Blog

Lettuce is a favourite in the garden because it is relatively easy to grow, is one of the first crops that can be planted, and is one of the first crops … Read more

The cauliflower is not the easiest of the brassica family to grow but a large white cauliflower with tight white curds is a thing of beauty and producing one … Read more

Land cress is also known as American cress and is a tasty and fast growing watercress substitute. It is ready to eat seven or 8 weeks after sowing so is an ex … Read more

Broad beans are the simplest thing to grow. They are hardy and produce a large crop of delicious beans. I prefer to pick them young for a sweeter bean … Read more

Growing Peppers Peppers and chillis are expensive when bought in the shops so growing your own is an economical exercise which also brings great pleasure. They … Read more

Marigolds are grown in gardens as natural insect-repellents. We grow them at Quickcrop to repel insects from our polytunnel. Marigolds are prolific annuals th … Read more

Basil is one of the most well-known and well-used herbs in the UK and Ireland. It is used as a key ingredient in Italian dishes including pizza and pasta. It … Read more

Growing Dwarf French Beans Dwarf French Beans are a compact habit plant that don't need staking like runner beans or peas. They are easy to grow and withstand … Read more

Squash plants are closely related to cucumbers, courgettes and marrows, and are a member of the same family, curcurbit. Squash plants come in a variety of sha … Read more

Choose a sunny open site in which to plant your rhubarb crown as rhubarb does not grow well in shade. November is the perfect time to plant a rhubarb crown. M … Read more

Mizuna is one of those strange oriental vegetables which arrived in the West in the last 20 years or so. The name for this leafy green comes from the Japanese … Read more

Growing Oregano in the herb garden. The three varieties normally grown are 'wild marjoram' (common oregano), pot marjoram and sweet or knotted marjoram. They a … Read more

Rosemary is one of the most decorative herbs and is well worth growing for its appearance alone. Dependent on the variety, it has small, profuse flowers appear … Read more

Sage is very slow to establish itself, so be prepared for a wait if you grow it from seed. When established however, common sage is reasonably hardy and tolera … Read more

Thyme deserves a place in all herb gardens. Its foliage is attractive, the long-lasting flowers are very pretty and it is a compact easy-care plant. On top … Read more

Grow Your Own Oriental Salads Spicy Chinese Mustard. Mustard greens are very popular in China for stir-fry, and mostly used cooked. The oriental mustards are a … Read more

Claytonia is also known as winter purslane or miners lettuce, it tastes quite like spinach and is full of vitamin C. It is a tough, cold resistant salad for g … Read more

Variety is important! Coriander (Cilantro) can be either grown for its leaves or for its seeds. Varieties have been bred to be better at producing one or the o … Read more

Celeriac is a cool-season biennial grown as an annual. It is similar in growing habit and requirements as celery. Celeriac is best when it comes to harvest in … Read more

How to grow daikon radishes. Daikon is a long, white variety of radish. Also known as white radish, mooli or Oriental radish, daikon radishes can grow over a f … Read more

Parsley is a biennial edible herb grown for its leaves which are commonly used in cooking and for garnishing salads and other cold dishes. Parsley is also know … Read more

Blueberries are delicious and extremely high in antioxidants which is why it is regarded as a super food. Plants are easy to grow provided you use an acidi … Read more

Salad Burnet, also called Garden Burnet, Small Burnet or simply just burnet, is a perennial herb of the Rosaceae or Rose family. It's edible leaves have a sli … Read more

Summer Savory is probably the most used of the savory species, part of the Lamiaceae family it is closely related to rosemary and thyme. It is not as bitter t … Read more

Borage, also known as a starflower, is a mediterranean annual herb that also grows well in the UK and Ireland. It has hairy leaves and stems with a 5 point … Read more

Mustard greens are very popular in China for stir-fry, and mostly used cooked. The oriental mustards are a very large group of rather coarse-leaved brassicas, … Read more

Fennel is easy to grow. They prefer full sun and a well drained soil. They will do best in rich soils.Water them during dry periods, once or twice per week. Add … Read more

For me potatoes are the backbone of the vegetable garden. If you get the seed potatoes in relatively early, there is very little to do apart from earth … Read more

Tarragon is a very easy to grow herb. It has a peppery slightly anise flavour to it. This is a much used herb as it goes well with most types of dish. Site a … Read more

Mint is an aromatic perennial herb with oblong to lanceolate leaves. Mint plants are easily maintained and if left untended they can spread quite rapidly, mak … Read more

Know Your Broccoli! In Italian the word broccoli means 'little sprouts'. It is part of the Brassica family of vegetables, which also includes cau … Read more

Get the soil conditions correct and carrots are one of the easiest vegetables to grow in the cooler climates. Incorrect soil conditions lead to misshape … Read more

A comprehensive article on How to grow Artichokes (Jerusalem variety). Artichokes area very easy crop to grow but be careful as they are very hard to get rid … Read more

Most people think of a small, round, pink variety when picturing a radish, usually either sliced or added whole to a garden salad. You may also remember th … Read more

If you were alive 144 million years ago, you wouldn't need to worry about providing winter food for wild birds, because you would have been on the menu you … Read more

This week I would like to talk about succulent plants and flowering perennials, as both give me something to do while the vegetable garden sleeps. First though, … Read more

Preparing the garden for winter I know I mentioned feeding your soil in some detail at the end of August but it really is the best thing you can do for your gar … Read more

As September is one of the busiest harvesting months, this week I thought it might be helpful to talk about preserving or storing vegetables over winter as, if y … Read more

As you know, September is about the final act in the vegetable garden when we harvest many of our crops and prepare the soil for winter. This week I have had a q … Read more

September in the Vegetable Garden Following our article on Autumn sowing for the polytunnel (17th August), we have had a number of requests for information on o … Read more

This week we are back in the vegetable garden to look at growth towards the end of the season and to make sure we get the best possible harvests before the cold … Read more

We had a number of questions recently on polytunnel growing: particularly whether polytunnels are worth the investment and whether it is true that they ena … Read more

I can't believe I am already writing about the vegetable garden in August, where has all that time gone? I don't know what the weather is like where you are but … Read more

Tomato fruit problems In general tomatoes are easy to grow plants and will usually produce something no matter what you do to them but, for good yields of high … Read more

Keep sowing those seeds! I know I said it in a previous mail/blog post, but I feel I should again remind you to keep sowing seeds for late summer, autumn … Read more

Pollinating Sweetcorn As you may know from previous mails I am growing sweetcorn in the polytunnel this year as part of our video project. I thought you might l … Read more

Some very welcome rain The vegetable garden was beginning to get very dry over the last few weeks, so much so that I found myself out with the hose watering cro … Read more

Well folks, I am back from my week's holidays loafing around with the day to myself. If anyone is interested, I was in Oysterhaven, a pretty spot on the sea in c … Read more

Mental health is clearly just as important as our physical health, yet is unseen and can be so difficult to manage, it can affect every aspect of our daily l … Read more

Firstly, thank you to anyone who mailed me last week to let me know you found our most recent article on plant feed for container growing useful. It is always gr … Read more

Hi folks, I hope everyone had a good weekend. I don't know what the weather is like with you but we finally had a beautiful summer weekend with plenty of heat an … Read more

Firstly, thank you to anyone who replied to last week's mail expressing interest in information on plant feed for container growing. I am a bit tight for time th … Read more

I can't tell you how much of a relief it is that the weather has warmed a little and that there is no frost forecast for this week. As you may know I am filming … Read more

When my daughter Anna (21, not living at home) called to tell us she had adopted 2 kittens I started a countdown in my head to see how long it would take for the … Read more

We are now very close to being able plant out seedling plants outdoors or to be able sow directly in the garden soil. Please be aware, however, that despite the … Read more

This week I thought I would concentrate on the polytunnel or greenhouse as there is a lot to be done in April both in terms of sowing new seed and in potting on … Read more

Hi folks, I hope you all had a good Easter break. I don't know what the weather has been like for you but we have had a very pleasant few days with warm sunshine … Read more

Seed sowing dates This week I thought it might be helpful to include some more detail on seed sowing dates as, with some minor planning, you can skew the season … Read more

Pricking out tomato and chilli seedlings This week I have started pricking out and potting on my tomato seedlings, you can see the tomatoes happily growing away … Read more

March can be a deceptive month. The season is clearly starting to turn with warmer days, grass beginning to grow and buds opening on fruit bushes, yet it i … Read more

Your Immune System The immune system is made up of a network of cells, tissues, and organs that work together to protect the body. It is a highly … Read more

Regular readers will know that I included my outdoor garden succession planting plan in one of our January emails. I also said I would follow with my polytunnel … Read more

When you see someone with glowing skin, it stands out but not all of us are blessed with radiant, flawless skin. There are millions of products available we can … Read more

While we are heading in the right direction in terms of day length, February is still a very cold month with little we can sow or plant outside. There are a few … Read more

I thought it might be a good idea to follow last week's mail on sowing seeds with some notes on seed and potting compost. It might seem like a boring subject but … Read more

Although it is still too early to sow anything I thought I would run through some seed sowing notes this week for any new growers who are unsure when or how to s … Read more

Sleep is something many of us take for granted and don’t give a second thought to, but for others it’s a huge obstacle in their life. Sleep deprivation actually … Read more

‘You are what you eat and absorb’ is more accurate than the saying ‘you are what you eat’. More than 2,000 years ago Hippocrates stated that all disease starts i … Read more

Last week I touched on succession sowing and said I would include my plan for this year and, being very organised these days (new years resolution), I am pleased … Read more

Hi there and a Happy New Year to you all! So, Andrew asked me to do a series of articles about nutrition and everyday health, I’m a Nutritional Therapist so I gu … Read more

As someone who makes a lot of mistakes, I have to say I absolutely love a clean slate. I can literally drag myself to the end of the year yet emerge completely t … Read more

If you read last week's post you will know we talked about adding wood ash around gooseberry plants. I had a couple of emails asking if wood ash can be used arou … Read more

I feel a bit guilty about my post last week where I said there was nothing to do in the November garden so I thought I would offer a few tips today. It is true t … Read more

As you may know from last week's communication I have been having a very enjoyable time reading Jane Powers' new book 'An Irish Nature Year'. The book is a compi … Read more

Succulent plants make ideal indoor displays so are a great winter project (or present!) for anyone who its itching to do a bit of gardening. Plants are easy and … Read more

Last week I filmed the first in a series of over 200 videos which will become the backbone of our new Quickcrop vegetable growers course. This epic lea … Read more

While I am not a fan of of winter I do enjoy preparing for it. There is great satisfaction in harvesting and storing crops in October, protecting … Read more

My apologies for not posting last week, I am afraid drawing up planting plans and adding them as products to the site has taken a lot longer than I tho … Read more

This week I thought we would take a break from vegetables and look instead at the flowering garden. Some of you may remember my ambitious plans earlier … Read more

It is incredible just how fast the season slips by, I can't believe it's September already! The final part of the season got away from me a bit (broken coll … Read more

Mackerel sky Before we get going, here's a photo I took on Monday morning while out walking the dog showing a pretty 'mackerel sky' which, as you know, signals … Read more

I don't know what the season has been like for you but thanks to a warm and dry early summer followed by some welcome rain, my garden is looking vibrant&nbs … Read more

Right then. For the last while I have been both adding to our list of flowering perennial plants and working on planting plants and corresponding plant packs. As … Read more

I thought we'd start the garden update with a couple of photos taken last evening while having a walk on a local bog. The photo above is of Eriophorum angus … Read more

The transition from May to June is a fantastic time in the vegetable garden as the crops you have planted or sown start to put on some proper growth and the gard … Read more

I made a vow to myself last week that I would go at least a month without including a photo of my tractor in these emails. As you see above I have failed already … Read more

Victory gardens are fruit and vegetable gardens grown by the public both at home and in a community setting. In times of war huge pressure is put on the fo … Read more

We recently decided to tackle some of the gardening FAQs that we get asked most frequently on this blog. Can I grow vegetables indoors? is one of those questions … Read more

As we move towards the beginning of May, things really start to move in the vegetable garden. Up until this point there have been very few seeds we can sow outsi … Read more

Garden Update I am making some progress in the garden this week with a few tips coming to mind which hopefully you will find helpful.The first tip I have is get … Read more

I am afraid we have had to close the Quickcrop site for 3 days and not taking any new orders until Friday. As I think I explained last week we are down to a smal … Read more

Well, hello there folks. That's been a strange couple of weeks hasn't it? I apologise for the late mail but I have had the luminous vest on since last week as I' … Read more

Due to a relatively dry end to last week I had thought the worst of the weather was over. I said as much on Facebook (and nearly caused an International incident … Read more

Despite the fact that I am usually busy enough in the polytunnel in late Winter (sowing sweet peas, peppers, broad beans etc....), it is not until I sow my t … Read more

Timetable for growing tomatoes: a summary of a decade of learningI started growing tomatoes in the wet summer of 2009 and was (quite frankly) not very success … Read more

As bin charges increase and households try to be more environment friendly, we are seeing a corresponding increase in home composting. We have been inter … Read more

Not too chilly for growing chillies! You don't need me to tell you that we are having a wet and windy February. So far we have dealt with high winds and heavy … Read more

The vegetable garden is still pretty quiet this week, so I thought we would return to ornamental gardening and look at some of the plans for my garden and some i … Read more

Last weekend I was back in the polytunnel and sowed a few trays of seeds which I wanted to start on the heat bench (onions and leeks). It is still very early day … Read more