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 have deep tap roots which need to be remo ... … Recognising Common Perennial Garden Weeds

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 unfortunate as for the most part they are ... … How To Grow The Best Tomato Seedlings

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 ... … April 20th Garden Update. Planting French Beans

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 tomatoes that I really feel the season ... … Sowing Tomatoes in late February - a guide from Rhys Jaggar

Saving your own vegetable seeds in order to plant them again the following year (or even later) is a very worthwhile and rewarding activity - make no mistake. It’s something that has been pract ... … Can I Save My Own Vegetable Seeds?

Edible landscaping or foodscaping is the practice of interspersing ornamental plant displays with edible crops, often in a way that creates a lush and colourful variety of foliage.  There’s ... … Foodscaping: How To Combine Ornamental & Edible Gardening

Greenhouses and polytunnels are both structures that allow for regulation of climate and enable you to grow a wider range of vegetables, fruits and plants than you would be able to outdoors. Tempera ... … Greenhouse or Polytunnel, Which To Choose?

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 lives, be it social, work, relationship ... … Does food affect our Mental Health?

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 ... … Vegetable Seed Sowing Notes

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 around all fruit (it can't) so thought we ... … How to Start a Fruit Garden

Honestly, do you ever think about how weird it is that ‘pond life’ has become a derogatory phrase and insult, when actual pond life contains some of the most fascinating and beautiful cr ... … How To Create a Wildlife Friendly Pond

I have a soft spot for peas. They are easy to sow, look beautiful, are fascinating to observe as they climb and, of course, have a delicious sweet flavour. They are an active, friendly and tactile cr ... … Sowing Peas in Early June

Why grow your own food? It's a fair question to ask. 'Fruits and vegetables aren't that expensive in the first place', you might say. 'It's time-consuming', you might also ponder, while wondering abo ... … Why Grow Your Own Food?

So, the other week, I had an email from a customer asking for advice on what soil mix to use for planting fruit trees in containers. It was a simple question which should have resulted in a quick ... … Growing Fruit in Containers

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 in the year to create a number of flower beds a ... … Planting Perennial Flowers in Autumn

A polytunnel can really open up a world of growing possibilities, extending the growing season, providing extra shelter and increasing your chances of success with warm climate crops.  However, ... … The Best Crops to Grow in a Polytunnel

After last weeks brilliant article on late sowings of peas and carrots I got a number of mails asking what other vegetables can be sown at this time of year. I am always surprised at how many people ... … Vegetables to Sow in Late June

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. Harvesting at just the right time is impo ... … Harvesting Homegrown Vegetables

When it comes to watering the vegetable garden, convenience and automation has a lot going for it, but it’s not the be all and end all. Being a gardening ‘luddite’ whose weapon of choice is a ... … How to Water Your Garden by Hand

The news from the Quickcrop garden could be described as 'mixed'. Outside, a mind boggling amount of slugs continue to eat everything in sight despite my best efforts at control. On a more ... … Early May in the vegetable garden

Once you have your home sauna set up, you may be wondering what else you will need to optimise your sauna bathing sessions. The answer is not a whole lot. Saunas are places to sit and me ... … Essential Sauna Accessories

You might remember from a post a few weeks back that we are now manufacturing the fabulous 'Gro-Grid' weed control planting mat. We have the machinery set up in our warehouse and have been building ... … The Gro Grid Fabric Mat: Planting Made Easier

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 booster, and a detoxifier, to be benefic ... … Growing wheatgrass and wheatgrass juice

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 delighted to include some information f ... … An introduction to pruning Apple Trees

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 weather arrives. While August can seem ... … Late August Garden Update & Protecting Your Soil.

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 ... … March 2020 Vegetable Garden Update

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 guess he thought I'd be a good person to ... … Functional Nutrition Basics Part 1 - Weight Loss

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. Other types of soft fruit include straw ... … How to grow raspberries

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 split up into long raised beds with gravel ... … Quickcrop Vegetable Garden Plan 2016

Collecting autumn leaves may seem like another garden tidying task to add to the list, but they are actually a valuable resource for the vegetable gardener. When rotted they make an excellent mulch, ... … How to Make Leaf Mould: A Free And Natural Soil Improver

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 but, to be fair, that's a really nice ... … May 5th, Planting tomatoes, chillis and cucumbers in the polytunnel

In a world where biodiversity loss continues to accelerate and climate catastrophe is an ever-present spectre, 'rewilding' can be seen as a potential lifeline or way forward. Rewilding can mean diff ... … The Benefits of Rewilding

I was pleased to bump into writer and journalist Fionnuala Fallon recently as I wanted to compliment her on her new book 'From the Ground Up'. I'm a sucker for good photography and also a bit of a no ... … An interview with Fionnuala Fallon.

I spent most of last weekend loafing around Kent and Sussex as I was keen to visit a few gardens while the season still has some life left in it. One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to the ... … The Knepp Castle Re-Wilding Project

'How to grow gooseberries' is intended as a solid introduction to growing this relatively easy to grow fruit bush. For more detailed information on gooseberries please feel free to contact us, we ... … How to grow bare root soft fruit part 3: How to grow Gooseberries

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 our new vegetable growing course this ... … Growing Peas and Beans in the Quickcrop Garden

As you may know I keep in touch with Dermot Carey (ex head gardener at Lissadell House) and like to hear about the projects he is working on in his travels around the country. Dermot works as a con ... … Burtown Kitchen Garden Diary - Dividing and Planting Rhubarb

For a bit of colour to start, below is the beautiful magenta bulbs of onion 'long red Florence': a crop I harvested in 2021, but a variety I sow every year. A new batch of onion seedling plants ... … April in the Vegetable Garden - What Can You Sow?

Following on from last week's post I thought we would continue with more planting tips, this time on tomatoes as I put some in my tunnel at the weekend. As regards flavour, there is no comparison bet ... … Easy Home Tomato Planting Tutorial

The end of March and early April is approaching prime seed sowing time if we are starting indoors in seed trays or pots (for planting outside in May). I think we covered timing already but, a ... … April Vegetable Seedling Care Guide

Brace yourselves folks, we are now entering the busiest time of year in the vegetable garden. The soil has warmed sufficiently for sowing and planting out but has also warmed enough for weeds and gra ... … Vegetable Sowing and Planting Tips

The sauna can be a terrific place to unwind, rejuvenate or socialise. It’s a place you want to retreat to so you can take your mind off daily stresses. Having said that, you should still be aware of ... … Sauna Safety Tips

Four Seasons in Our Garden was a year-long intergenerational project that took place in the setting of the Cranmore Community Co Op, a Sligo-based communal space with its own garden, polytunnel and ... … Four Seasons in an Urban Community Garden - an interview with Kids' Own

Climbing peas and beans are some of my favourite crops in the vegetable garden. They epitomise summer with their attractive flowers and lush growth. There is something 'active' about them with their ... … How to Grow Climbing Peas and Beans

This week we have our second installment of the Burtown Kitchen Garden Diary where we see Dermot building a new polytunnel on the site to broaden the choice of fruit and vegetables destined for the ... … Burtown Kitchen Garden Diary – How To Build a Polytunnel

Every cloud has a silver lining, as they say. So while your growing season shuts down around now, another window opens as we enter bare root fruit season. Growing your own fruit has to be the easies ... … A Guide to Planting Bare Root Fruit

This article covers pruning old and neglected fruit trees, if you would like to learn how to prune younger or freshly planted trees please read ' An introduction to pruning apple trees'. I get ... … How to prune old and neglected apple trees

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 tomato, chilli and sweet pepper plants ... … The Polytunnel in mid April 2021

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of using a sauna, you’ll know that it can be a serene experience. The heat relaxes your muscles and eases body tension. This can create a deep sense of well-b ... … Choosing the Right Home Sauna

As was briefly mentioned in my mail of a couple of weeks ago, changing weather patterns can challenge our habits and our 'collective wisdom' about the traditional growing season. In recent years spr ... … How To Extend The Growing Season with a Polytunnel - Part 1: Spring

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, but there are some general principle ... … A Guide to Garden Irrigation