Using the right tools really does make life in the vegetable garden a whole lot easier. I'm a little bit of a tool nut myself and do find myself gravitating towards the hardware shop to buy myself ... Read more

Fiona Dillon is, amongst many other things, an expert poultry keeper so I thought I'd give her a call to get the '123' for any first timers (or those interested in becoming first timers). She ... Read more

I spent last Summer dreading weeding my vegetable garden as time pressure meant the hoe didn't get used as much as it should. I'm not the best weeder in the world (I find it pretty boring) and can ... Read more

Parsnips are easy to grow members of the cow parsley family. This family includes carrot, dill, fennel and parsley among others. These seeds tend to have a short period of viability, so new packet ... Read more

Water is one of the most crucial building blocks for plant growth. The rest of the ‘Big 5’ consists of oxygen, light, favourable temperature and nutrients. Interestingly enough for the purpose of thi ... Read more

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 enormous glass jar of pickled eggs at the e ... 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 a tractor! Readers from last Autumn m ... Read more

Preparing your soil is an important step that shouldn’t be skipped when setting up your first polytunnel. Trying to do intensive digging or soil amendment work can be an awkward task once the p ... Read more

We pay them scant attention and know so little about them, yet fungi are critical to our survival. They support us indirectly by recycling carbon rich organic matter and by using their undergro ... Read more

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 yearly cycle but to the same dependable ... Read more

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 working height. Raised bed protection cov ... Read more

Even though it's a mild early Spring so far it's still too cold to plant anything outside. Even if we're sowing inside there are very few things we can get started and they will need to be sown on ... 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 the humble radish cut in an 'artistic' f ... Read more

I had quite a few emails following my previous article on  mycogardening (gardening with fungi) and on my plans to make my garden more biodiverse, so I thought I might as well contin ... Read more

  How To Plant & Grow Calabrese The supermarkets have helped to confuse the issue of what is broccoli and what a calabrese by calling both by either name. The large green heads you se ... Read more

Runner beans, or 'scarlet runners', are native to central and northern South America, where they were seen as one of the 'Three Sisters', a famous companion planting growing technique.Runner beans ar ... Read more

Regular watering and sensible irrigation is essential to the development and healthy growth of any plant. Water is drawn from the root of the plant and transported through its capilla ... 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 start growing. It will also likely be d ... 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've been packing orders in the warehous ... Read more

As regular readers will know, I had to take down over half of my trees due to the ash die back disease which is affecting so many of the nation's ash trees. Sadly, that has left my little p ... Read more

I guess it is important to say from the outset that herbs are very easy to grow. Considering what they add in flavour and how often you will use them they are probably the best value plants in the ga ... Read more

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 you're growing in a greenhouse or pol ... Read more

I mentioned a couple of mails ago that we would be adding a new flowering plant section to our website but as usual I am a bit behind. We have been growing some very nice nursery stock (available now ... Read more

It's one thing to have your greenhouse all set up, installed and ready to go for the new season. However an empty greenhouse is a bit like an empty house; you're best off getting some furni ... Read more

Persuading children to eat vegetables can be a task and a half. It’s not just stubbornness either: research shows that kids’ taste buds are simply more receptive to sweet foods. And let’s be ho ... Read more

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 himself in through the universal language ... Read more

Why Plant Bare Root Trees? Everyone seems to be talking about trees these days and with good reason. They are one of the single most effective ways to take carbon out of the atmosphere and help ... 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 the year so far has been nuts, progre ... Read more