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Growing Family

UK home and garden blog sharing ideas, inspiration and tips for busy family life, written by Catherine Hughes

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Talking family gardening with Shedstore

June 16, 2016 by Catherine 2 Comments

children gardening

Last week I had a lovely time chatting with Shedstore about family gardening.  My interview was for the 'Garden Life' section of the Shedstore website, which shares articles from throughout the gardening community.  Here's what we covered. When did you first form an interest in gardening? When I was about 7 years old; my dad gave me my own little patch at his allotment and I was hooked.  I remember loving how hands-on it was, and finding the ...

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Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Allotment, Children, Community, Days out, Family, Food, Garden, gardening, Homegrown, Nature, Outdoors

Review & Giveaway: Greenhouse Sensation plant watering kits

June 7, 2016 by Catherine 106 Comments

greenhouse peppers

Welcome to a new giveaway, courtesy of Greenhouse Sensations.  I'm giving away a brilliant Quadgrow Planter worth £42.90, which is perfect for taking the hassle out of plant watering.  If you grow plants in a greenhouse of any size, you'll be familiar with the task of regular watering.  I've had a greenhouse on my allotment for a couple of years now, and I've learned the hard way that it only takes a day or two to create drought conditions in ...

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Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Allotment, Compost, Crops, gardening, Greenhouse, Harvest, Planting, Plants, Reviews, Vegetables, watering

1. A grow-your-own photographic diary with Baby Bio Outdoor

June 3, 2016 by Catherine 4 Comments

sweetcorn plants

Do you grow any fruit and vegetables?  If the answer is 'yes' and you're anything like me, you've probably had varying levels of success with some crops, either because of weather conditions, pests, or just not knowing what you were doing! I've had my allotment for a few years now, and like any new venture it's been a real learning curve.  I think the biggest lesson I've learned is that you can't just put a plant into the ground, and expect it ...

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Filed Under: Grow Your Own Tagged With: Allotment, Baby Bio, Crops, Food, Fruit, Garden, gardening, Harvest, Homegrown, Outdoors, Plant food, Planting, Plants, Summer, Top Tips

Savings on grow your own with grow2eat.com

August 14, 2015 by Catherine Leave a Comment

st anns allotments

If you grow your own fruit and vegetables you’ll already be saving lots of money compared to buying the same crops from a shop - as well as enjoying much fresher, tastier produce.  I’ve recently discovered you can also find lots of savings and special offers on grow your own at grow2eat.com. Whether you’re a member of an allotment association or gardening club, or just an individual who loves to grow their own food, you can join the grow2eat ...

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Filed Under: Grow Your Own Tagged With: Allotment, Community, Crops, Discounts, Food, Fruit, gardening, Reviews

An unruly Summer allotment

July 16, 2015 by Catherine 22 Comments

summer allotment

It's been a while since I shared any pictures of our allotment.  This hasn't been deliberate, I just haven't got myself organised! I feel like I've been behind the whole way with the allotment this year.  Last year I had the plot rotavated in early Spring, which meant I was good to go with the planting nice and early.  This year however there's a greenhouse slap bang in the middle of the plot, a few raised beds and some permanent fruit canes, ...

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Filed Under: Grow Your Own Tagged With: Allotment, Children, Crops, Family, Flowers, Food, Fruit, gardening, Greenhouse, Harvest, HDYGG, Homegrown, July, Plants, Raised bed, Summer, Vegetables, Weeds

The oldest allotments in Britain

July 2, 2015 by Catherine 23 Comments

st anns allotments

I bet the word ‘allotment’ conjures up an image in your mind something like this: a small-ish site, plots laid out in rectangles, each one completely visible, lots of sheds, greenhouses and compost bins.  St Anns Allotments are nothing like this. St Anns allotments are the oldest detached town gardens in Britain, possibly the world; it’s history goes back over 600 years.  The Grade 2 listed site is huge - 75 acres with 700 plots.  550 ...

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Filed Under: Days Out Tagged With: Allotment, Community, Food, Garden, gardening, Greenhouse, HDYGG, history, Homegrown, Wildlife

Review: Ego Power+ Cordless String Trimmer

June 24, 2015 by Catherine 1 Comment

ego strimmer

Even if you're not battling hay fever at this time of year, grass can pose something of a challenge.  Lawns seem to be growing before your eyes, creating a need for frequent mowing, and those hard-to-reach areas can quickly get out of hand.  This is where garden strimmers come into their own, making a tricky job so much easier and neater. This week I’ve been testing a strimmer which boasts the latest technology on the garden tools market - the ...

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Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Allotment, Garden, Grass, Reviews, Tools

Digging, Sowing, Dodging the Rain

April 2, 2015 by Catherine 22 Comments

This week the reinforcements arrived at the allotment, and I don't mean Lily with her tiny trowel - dad arrived with his big spade! Gardening and my dad have gone together for as long as I can remember.  He had an allotment when I was little and still has a vegetable plot in his immaculate garden.  I love it when he comes down to give me a hand at the allotment, I always learn loads and it’s great to spend some time gardening peacefully side ...

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Filed Under: Grow Your Own Tagged With: Allotment, Crops, Digging, Family, Greenhouse, HDYGG, Homegrown, Planting, Seeds, Spring, Vegetables

How Does Your Community Garden Grow?

February 19, 2015 by Catherine 22 Comments

community garden

This week we’ve been exploring the Arkwright Meadows Community Garden in Nottingham.   Situated very close to the city centre, this previously unloved playing field has been completely transformed into a fabulous outdoor space that the local community now cherish.  My kids love to come here because there’s lots to explore and they like comparing the crops with our own at the allotment. Here it really is all about bringing local ...

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Filed Under: Days Out Tagged With: Allotment, Children, Community, Crops, Family, Food, Garden, HDYGG, Homegrown, Minibeasts, Raised bed, Vegetables, Wildlife

The planting begins…

February 12, 2015 by Catherine 25 Comments

My seed order arrived this week.  Do you think I’ve overdone it a little?! In my defence I fully intend to plant everything I’ve ordered, but I can already tell we’re going to struggle to find room for everything.  It’s the same every year, I always end up juggling what goes where - you’d think I’d learn but apparently not!  I’d rather this than not have enough plants though, I can’t handle the idea of big patches of ground that aren’t ...

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Filed Under: Grow Your Own Tagged With: Allotment, Children, Compost, Crops, Flowers, Food, Garden, Greenhouse, HDYGG, Homegrown, Planting, Seeds, Vegetables, Winter

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I’m Catherine, mum, wife, writer and fan of wellies. We love exploring, creating and growing things and my blog shares ideas, inspiration and tips for making the most of busy family life, indoors and out.

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Catherine Hughes is a home & garden blogger sharing ideas, inspiration & tips for making the most of busy family life, indoors and out.
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