Gardening Blog

Top 10 Vegetables to Grow in Containers

Top 10 Vegetables to Grow in Containers

30/09/2016

We can't all be blessed with a large outdoor garden space, and so it is that growing vegetables in containers can be an effective way of tackling spac...

By admin
30/09/2016

How to Grow Microgreens Indoors

How to Grow Microgreens Indoors

30/08/2016

Towards the end of summer and into autumn, activity in the vegetable garden slows down as crops are fully grown and their fruit begins to ripen. Winter brassica...

By admin
30/08/2016

Quickcrop Pond Volume Calculator

Quickcrop Pond Volume Calculator

12/08/2016

If you are considering building a garden pond you may want to calculate the volume of water for water treatment or if you intend to introduce fish. Water treat...

By admin
12/08/2016

The Quickcrop Vegetable Garden in August

The Quickcrop Vegetable Garden in August

05/08/2016

Well, it's August again in the Quickcrop garden (and elsewhere I suspect) so I thought we'd take our customary stroll around to see what's growing and hopefull...

By admin
05/08/2016

The Quickcrop Vegetable Garden in July

The Quickcrop Vegetable Garden in July

19/07/2016

I spent a good bit of time in the vegetable garden this weekend as the skies were blue for a change which made working outdoors a pleasure. I was also able to...

By admin
19/07/2016

Identifying Common Garden Pests

Identifying Common Garden Pests

19/05/2016

Seeing your vegetable crops decimated by garden pests can be a very disheartening sight, and it can happen seemingly overnight if proper preventative metho...

By admin
19/05/2016

A Guide to Garden Irrigation

A Guide to Garden Irrigation

19/05/2016

Irrigation is essential to the development and healthy growth of most garden crops; however, it can be very easy to overdo it. Individual plant needs may differ...

By admin
19/05/2016

The Health Benefits of Garlic

The Health Benefits of Garlic

27/04/2016

You have to hand it to garlic for it’s sheer audacity, showboating through the kitchen, loving the attention it gets as its aroma permeates everything whether...

By admin
27/04/2016

Recognising Common Perennial Garden Weeds

Recognising Common Perennial Garden Weeds

12/04/2016

Perennial Weeds Perennial weeds come up every year from the same plant and are difficult to get rid of but not as hard as they are often made our to be. Most hav...

By admin
12/04/2016

Diseases in the Vegetable Garden

Diseases in the Vegetable Garden

12/04/2016

Perfectly healthy plants can be affected by air, water or soil borne diseases at any time. Understanding the causes, identifying them early and taking effecti...

By admin
12/04/2016

How To Recognise Common Annual Garden Weeds

How To Recognise Common Annual Garden Weeds

06/04/2016

Common garden weeds are a large part of our gardens, and need to be identified before they manage to sow seed and multiply. If you keep a strict and thorough wee...

By admin
06/04/2016

Edible Flowers in the Vegetable Garden

Edible Flowers in the Vegetable Garden

18/03/2016

Unusually for me I found myself in not one, but two fancy restaurants at the weekend (it was my Mother's birthday) both of which presented me with pea shoots...

By admin
18/03/2016

What Type of Soil do I have?

What Type of Soil do I have?

03/03/2016

Garden soil can differ greatly in terms of consistency, texture and nutrient content. By identifying and understanding the type of soil you have, you can then t...

By admin
03/03/2016

What are the Best Garden Soil Improvers?

What are the Best Garden Soil Improvers?

03/03/2016

For the home gardener there is absolutely nothing more important than their soil. Soil is the life blood of the garden and its makeup will have a big influence...

By admin
03/03/2016

Top Ten Garden Pests

Top Ten Garden Pests

02/03/2016

The unwelcome garden visitors that come back every year. Here's a rundown of who they are and how to send them away. SlugsThese garden molluscs, al...

By admin
02/03/2016

The Vegetable Garden in March 2016

The Vegetable Garden in March 2016

02/03/2016

This March I am starting a new monthly update project which is centered more around what I'm doing in my garden. This is because it's easier for me to write bu...

By admin
02/03/2016

The Top 5 Gardening Ideas for Beginners

The Top 5 Gardening Ideas for Beginners

18/02/2016

With so many available options causing confusion for novice gardeners here are some simple suggestions for anyone planning to grow vegetables. Herb Garden...

By admin
18/02/2016

Ten Essential Tips for Gardening Beginners

Ten Essential Tips for Gardening Beginners

18/02/2016

1 PlanningDecide what you want to do with your vegetable garden and spend time working out the best way to achieve it. There are so many choices –fruit or veg...

By admin
18/02/2016

Vegetable Growing in Late Winter

Vegetable Growing in Late Winter

08/02/2016

What kinds of things can you do in the garden at this time of year. It’s not quite Spring after all? Well, no, we’ve still a long way to go before we get to...

By admin
08/02/2016

February in the Vegetable Garden

February in the Vegetable Garden

03/02/2016

I quite like February, it's a bit of a renegade. Not only does it have a different number of days than any other month but it also reserves the right to change...

By admin
03/02/2016

Vegetable Garden in January

Vegetable Garden in January

10/01/2016

Sowing and planting too early in the year We can all get a little over excited when the new year comes around especially if, like now, we've had relatively...

By admin
10/01/2016

How to Grow Blueberries and Cranberrries

How to Grow Blueberries and Cranberrries

15/12/2015

Blueberries are high in antioxidants so widely regarded as a 'Superfruit' (whatever that is) but taking their health benefits apart they are also exceptionally...

By admin
15/12/2015

How To Build and Install Raised Garden Beds

How To Build and Install Raised Garden Beds

04/12/2015

How To Build Raised Beds This article deals with how to build raised garden beds, what is the best size to make them and what is the best material to use. We wi...

By admin
04/12/2015

How to grow raspberries

How to grow raspberries

30/11/2015

How to grow bare root soft fruit In general and for the purposes of this article, soft fruit refers to soft skinned, juicy fruit borne on bushes or canes. O...

By admin
30/11/2015

How to Start Seedlings Indoors

How to Start Seedlings Indoors

09/11/2015

We are nearly at that time again when we sow some tiny seeds in compost and see them magically transform into large tomato plants bearing 15-20 kg of fruit...

By admin
09/11/2015

How do I make my own wooden compost bin?

How do I make my own wooden compost bin?

12/10/2015

Hello and welcome back to the Quickcrop garden. Well, it’s a beautiful day in mid September and today we are going to build one of our large New Zealand Box...

By admin
12/10/2015

Quickcrop Vegetable Garden Plan 2016

Quickcrop Vegetable Garden Plan 2016

06/10/2015

Raised bed vegetable garden plan.I include my 2016 vegetable garden plan below if anyone is interested in what I'll be growing next year. My garden is now spli...

By admin
06/10/2015

Growing Garlic - Frequently Asked Questions

Growing Garlic - Frequently Asked Questions

17/09/2015

Growing garlic is one of my favourite jobs in the vegetable garden. It is pretty much trouble free to grow and adds wonderful flavours to our home cooking. Home...

By admin
17/09/2015

Know Your Onions - How to grow onions

Know Your Onions - How to grow onions

28/08/2015

Onions are some of the easiest things to grow and require very little looking after. As our friend Dermot Carey (last head gardener of Lissadell House) says if y...

By admin
28/08/2015

How do I deal with potato blight?

How do I deal with potato blight?

26/08/2015

I think I mentioned last week that haven't been spending as much time as I should have in the vegetable garden due to the uninspiring weather we have been having...

By admin
26/08/2015

Raised Bed Covers

Raised Bed Covers

14/08/2015

Raised beds are better for growing vegetables because they raise them off the ground level, protecting them from foot traffic and creating a more comfortable wor...

By admin
14/08/2015

Fencing with James

Fencing with James

27/07/2015

This is a follow up to a weekly newsletter post where I mentioned a guy who worked with me a number of years ago who was always good for a funny turn of phras...

By admin
27/07/2015

Making Crop Protection Tunnels for Raised Beds

Making Crop Protection Tunnels for Raised Beds

23/07/2015

If you are thinking about building some raised vegetable beds to make you kitchen garden a whole lot easier to manage you might want to consider our revolutio...

By admin
23/07/2015

The Vegetable Garden in July - Planting New Potatoes

The Vegetable Garden in July - Planting New Potatoes

14/07/2015

If you have some spare space in your vegetable garden in July you could put in some 'Second Cropping' potatoes for a late Autumn/Winter harvest. Winter seed pota...

By admin
14/07/2015

Raised Bed Square Foot Gardening

Raised Bed Square Foot Gardening

08/07/2015

How to plant your own Raised bed vegetable garden using the Quickcrop Square Foot garden method. Square foot gardening is all about taking advantage of smaller...

By admin
08/07/2015

A French Vegetable Garden

A French Vegetable Garden

07/07/2015

I have always been a bit jealous of my brother in law as despite not being he worlds best linguist he manages to communicate no matter what country he finds hims...

By admin
07/07/2015

Mini Polytunnel Kits For Vegetable Gardening

Mini Polytunnel Kits For Vegetable Gardening

02/07/2015

Our Quickcrop mini polytunnel kits have been designed to be attached, via a hinge, to a timber raised bed. They can also be secured straight into the ground us...

By admin
02/07/2015

Mid June in the Vegetable Garden - What to sow

Mid June in the Vegetable Garden - What to sow

19/06/2015

Since I've been slow in the vegetable garden this year (which has recently turned from a wet and miserable prospect into a sun kissed paradise) I am very interes...

By admin
19/06/2015

The Quickcrop Vegetable Garden in Early June

The Quickcrop Vegetable Garden in Early June

09/06/2015

It really is incredible how things burst into life when we get a bit of warmth and sunshine: my little plot is suddenly a very different place. It was such a ni...

By admin
09/06/2015

What is the Best Soil pH for Growing Vegetables?

What is the Best Soil pH for Growing Vegetables?

22/05/2015

What is Soil pH? 'pH' refers to how acid or alkaline a soil is. The scale runs from 0-14 and basically measures the amount of calcium in the soil. Neutral is in...

By admin
22/05/2015

Beginners Vegetable Garden Kits

Beginners Vegetable Garden Kits

15/05/2015

Beginners Gardening Kits Vegetable gardening can be a little intimidating to the beginner and it is hard to know where to start with all the various information...

By admin
15/05/2015

Growing Potatoes in Grow Bags

Growing Potatoes in Grow Bags

17/03/2015

Using growbags couldn’t be easier, here is how to grow potatoes in a bag. The great thing about potatoes is that they can be grown almost anywhere, even if space...

By admin
17/03/2015

Cabbage Pest and Disease Control

Cabbage Pest and Disease Control

12/03/2015

Cabbage Pests & Diseases Cabbages and other brassicas have become a very important part of the vegetable garden in our climate. Different varieties of cabba...

By admin
12/03/2015

New Square Foot Garden Plans

New Square Foot Garden Plans

24/02/2015

Square Foot Gardening is an easy to understand method of planting vegetables which splits a gardeners plot into square foot areas rather than into rows. This sys...

By admin
24/02/2015

New Quickcrop Square Foot Urban Vegetable Garden

New Quickcrop Square Foot Urban Vegetable Garden

23/02/2015

If you have read any of our previous blog posts you will know that we are rather spoiled at Quickcrop with our large rural gardens with plenty of room to grow in...

By admin
23/02/2015

How to Grow Carrots In Containers

How to Grow Carrots In Containers

13/02/2015

Growing carrots in containers can be more successful than you would expect, and it is a great way to begin growing your own food at home. Patio planters...

By admin
13/02/2015

Urban vegetable planters

Urban vegetable planters

12/02/2015

Small Garden Ideas Vegetable growing should be available to anyone even if you have have a very small urban garden or worse, no garden at all! Small urban garde...

By admin
12/02/2015

Growing Healthy Vegetable Seedlings

Growing Healthy Vegetable Seedlings

05/01/2015

Growing your own can be tricky business for someone new to vegetable gardening but there are a number of ways you can stack the odds of a successful harvest i...

By admin
05/01/2015

The Vegetable Garden in November

The Vegetable Garden in November

30/10/2014

November is the month when growth in the vegetable garden finally grinds to a halt. Temperatures fall and daylight levels decrease, the season is over and oth...

By admin
30/10/2014

Gaby Wieland on Wheatgrass

Gaby Wieland on Wheatgrass

21/10/2014

Researching the benefits of drinking wheatgrass juice has to be one of the most challenging tasks as opinions vary wildly from one side to the other. The problem...

By admin
21/10/2014

Gift Vouchers From Quickcrop

21/10/2014

If you can't decide which fabulous item to choose for your gardening Christmas present why not get a gift voucher? Our specially designed gift vouchers are sent...

By admin
21/10/2014

How To Grow Wheatgrass - 5 Easy Steps

How To Grow Wheatgrass - 5 Easy Steps

17/10/2014

Wheatgrass is regarded as a superfood, it is the young grass part of the sprouted wheat seed and is packed full of nutrients and vitamins. Because of this,...

By admin
17/10/2014

An introduction to pruning Apple Trees

An introduction to pruning Apple Trees

01/10/2014

We've had a number of mails recently looking for information on pruning apple trees, it's too early now (late September) as the trees should be dormant but I'm d...

By admin
01/10/2014

What are Green Manures?

What are Green Manures?

25/09/2014

As my garden moves into autumn and I harvest and clear spent crops from my beds, I am looking at an increasing number of empty spaces. Some of these gaps will b...

By admin
25/09/2014

Where to build a school raised bed garden?

Where to build a school raised bed garden?

18/09/2014

Site Vegetables are expected to give a lot. We want them to grow quickly and provide good quantities of nutritious food. To do this we need to pamper them a...

By admin
18/09/2014

An Introduction to School Vegetable Growing

An Introduction to School Vegetable Growing

18/09/2014

An Introduction to School Vegetable Growing School vegetable growing is becoming more popular with the increased emphasis on healthy eating both at...

By admin
18/09/2014

How to build a school raised bed vegetable garden

How to build a school raised bed vegetable garden

18/09/2014

Using school raised garden beds We would strongly recommend using timber raised vegetable beds for your school garden for a number of reasons, the biggest f...

By admin
18/09/2014

What to grow in a School Vegetable Garden

What to grow in a School Vegetable Garden

17/09/2014

Be Realistic! I'd give the same advice to any new gardener - to start small with easy to grow crops. A school vegetable garden also has the holidays t...

By admin
17/09/2014

Growing wheatgrass and wheatgrass juice

Growing wheatgrass and wheatgrass juice

10/09/2014

Wheatgrass is a tricky one to pin down. Many people I've spoken with swear by it while others will dismiss it as utter nonsense. It is claimed to be an energy bo...

By admin
10/09/2014

The G.I.Y. Gathering 2014

30/08/2014

I'm sure most of you have already heard of G.I.Y. or 'Grow It Yourself', indeed many of you are probably members so we'll go for a brief intro for those who h...

By admin
30/08/2014

Korean Kimchi and Fizzy Milk

Korean Kimchi and Fizzy Milk

12/08/2014

It is rare that my wife and I agree on anything but I was pleasantly surprised when my liking for pickled vegetables converged neatly with her interest in the he...

By admin
12/08/2014

Asian Greens for Autumn Sowing

Asian Greens for Autumn Sowing

30/07/2014

When we move towards the end of July and into early August, it can be easy to think that the time for sowing new crops has passed. To be fair that's true f...

By admin
30/07/2014

A Pretty Pickle

A Pretty Pickle

29/07/2014

England, like any country, has its pro's and con's but I thought I had died and gone to heaven when I discovered many pubs over there are furnished with an enorm...

By admin
29/07/2014

A Guide to Radish Types

A Guide to Radish Types

15/07/2014

While it is most commonly visualised as a bright red vegetable, there is a delightful amount of variety when it comes to growing your own radish. For simpl...

By admin
15/07/2014

Harvesting Homegrown Vegetables

Harvesting Homegrown Vegetables

08/07/2014

Harvesting homegrown vegetables can be just as important as growing them as some crops can quickly go past their best and loose precious flavour and texture. Har...

By admin
08/07/2014

Top 10 Mothers Day Gardening Gifts 2015

Top 10 Mothers Day Gardening Gifts 2015

11/03/2014

Mothers Day 2015 Mothers Day 2015 is on sunday the 15th of March in Ireland. It is one of those days that lands on a different date each year, which...

By admin
11/03/2014

The Vegetable Garden in Early Spring

The Vegetable Garden in Early Spring

21/02/2014

Well, it's been a while. I always have great intentions to write more articles every month but time seems to slip by so easily with the day to day business at Qu...

By admin
21/02/2014

Seaweed and Potatoes

Seaweed and Potatoes

18/02/2014

A Protective Seaweed Mulch I took the opposite photo in early January, it's frosty seaweed obviously but it's in my garden rather than on the beach. I prepared...

By admin
18/02/2014

How To Grow The Best Tomato Seedlings

How To Grow The Best Tomato Seedlings

17/02/2014

One of the things first time vegetable gardeners ask about when they call or email us is tomatoes - everyone wants to grow their own tomatoes. This is a bit unfo...

By admin
17/02/2014

Germinating Vegetable Seeds in a Heated Propagator

Germinating Vegetable Seeds in a Heated Propagator

09/02/2014

If you're staring off your vegetable plants in early Spring you'll need to give them some heat as temperatures will be too cold for the seeds to germinate. If...

By admin
09/02/2014

Top 10 Facts About Tomatoes

Top 10 Facts About Tomatoes

08/02/2014

Tomatoes are easy to grow and are becoming a more and more popular crop. A couple of tomato plants will produce hundreds of fruit and keep you in fresh tomatoe...

By admin
08/02/2014

5 Uses for Autumn Leaves

5 Uses for Autumn Leaves

12/11/2013

There's something quite pleasant about raking up autumn leaves: it feels like such an ancient, seasonal practice that it connects you not only with the current...

By admin
12/11/2013

10,000 Bees

10,000 Bees

16/10/2013

I rarely get out these days but myself and Niall always try to squeeze in a relaxing pint on a Friday evening. Pubs whether you like or loath them are great p...

By admin
16/10/2013

Firewood, Baskets and Log Storage boxes

Firewood, Baskets and Log Storage boxes

16/10/2013

We had a lot of emails regarding the supply of dry firewood after a mail I sent out about wicker wood and turf baskets. Niall did a fair bit of legwork and th...

By admin
16/10/2013

My Vegetable Garden in October

My Vegetable Garden in October

16/10/2013

I don't think I ever showed you my garden did I? It was originally put together as the shared Quickcrop garden but since the business moved from my house this...

By admin
16/10/2013

Letters to a Beekeeper

Letters to a Beekeeper

13/10/2013

As I've mentioned in my bee article I have accidentally ended up with a hive of bees. This is all fine and well but clearly I need to learn a lot more about t...

By admin
13/10/2013

Making Chutneys

Making Chutneys

12/10/2013

I asked my wife Siobhan to have a go at documenting her chutney making endeavours with the following results, go Siobhan!The English made chutneys their own afte...

By admin
12/10/2013

Potato Blight - Recognising and avoiding.

04/09/2013

Everyone who has grown potatoes will have heard of potato blight, it's the most serious disease affecting potatoes and one which is almost impossible not to g...

By admin
04/09/2013

Harvest Time Heroes

Harvest Time Heroes

31/07/2013

If your garden is anything like mine you've been reaping the rewards of the good weather with a fantastic crop of fresh vegetables. So much worked for me this ye...

By admin
31/07/2013

Beautiful Beetroot with Dorcas Barry

Beautiful Beetroot with Dorcas Barry

30/07/2013

I always liked beetroot anyway but since my wife started making a salad with roasted beetroot and feta cheese my interest in growing them reached new heights. I...

By admin
30/07/2013

Charles Dowding's Garden

Charles Dowding's Garden

30/07/2013

If you read any of the guff I write you will probably have heard me mention Charles Dowding before. He's a bit of a hero of mine basically because his book 'Orga...

By admin
30/07/2013

Cork Garlic Farm Update

Cork Garlic Farm Update

26/07/2013

You may remember we reported from the West Cork Garlic Farm earlier in the year. It's a project we're very excited about as it gives us a source of Irish produce...

By admin
26/07/2013

Top 10 Great Overwintering Vegetables

Top 10 Great Overwintering Vegetables

26/07/2013

We always get loads of calls in August / September looking for overwintering vegetable seedlings. Of course I'm delighted as we do a great range of vegetables fo...

By admin
26/07/2013

Elderflower Champagne

Elderflower Champagne

02/07/2013

Ingredients 4 litres hot water 700g sugar Juice and zest of four lemons 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar About 15 elderower heads, in full bloom A pinch o...

By admin
02/07/2013

How to Plant Tomato Seedlings

How to Plant Tomato Seedlings

01/05/2013

I had a call from Dermot Carey (my personal vegetable guru) over the weekend as he wanted to pick up a couple of rolls of fleece. "I hope you don't mind me calli...

By admin
01/05/2013

Tips for Planting Out Seedlings

Tips for Planting Out Seedlings

01/05/2013

O.K., so you've managed to get your seedling plants off to a good start (or have bought in some promising looking specimens). You have hardened them off and are...

By admin
01/05/2013

Where to buy vegetable seedlings online

Where to buy vegetable seedlings online

30/04/2013

.Buying plug plants is the key to easy vegetable growing as veg seedlings already started cut out a lot of the tricky stuff that can put off a novice grower....

By admin
30/04/2013