Growing Family

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

  • Home
  • About
    • About Me
    • Contact / PR
    • Disclosure
    • Privacy Policy
  • Garden
    • What to Plant Now
    • Garden Jobs this Month
    • Grow Your Own
    • Gardening with Children
    • Garden Tips
    • Garden Design
    • Houseplants
    • In Season Now
    • Birth Month Flowers
  • Interiors
    • Interior Design Tips
    • Living Room
    • Kitchen & Dining
    • Bedroom
    • Bathroom
    • Family Home
    • Product Showcase
    • Food
  • Nature
    • Exploring Nature
    • Days Out
    • Travel
  • Craft
  • Reviews
  • Giveaways

Money-saving allotment DIY projects

September 2, 2021 by Catherine Leave a Comment

carrot plants growing in raised bed

Collaborative post If you've got an allotment, you're probably already familiar with how tempting it can be to spend lots of money on your plot. I remember how easy it was to get carried away when we first got our allotment; having that extra space and the chance to make it look exactly how we wanted it to was just so exciting! Even if you don't get carried away, buying everything you need for your allotment can be quite expensive. Easy ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Allotment, Bird feeder, Compost, DIY, eco friendly gardening, Garden, gardening, money saving, Raised bed, Top Tips

Coco coir brick: eco friendly compost from Coco & Coir

May 11, 2021 by Catherine Leave a Comment

This is a collaborative post in partnership with Coco & Coir It's official: my seedlings have now taken over the house. The windowsills are crammed, and my utility room would be better described as a greenhouse. But it's all part of the fun of gardening in my opinion! I'm always on the lookout for products that can help me to garden as sustainably as possible. This spring I've been using Coco Boost from Coco & Coir's range of ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: coco coir, Compost, eco friendly gardening, Eco-friendly, Garden, Garden tips, gardening, gardening equipment, sustainable gardening

Sustainable gardening: 4 great ways to be more eco-friendly in your garden

April 20, 2021 by Catherine Leave a Comment

Collaborative post Would you like to be more eco-friendly in your garden? With lots of us becoming more mindful of the impact we have on the environment, it's no wonder it's a growing trend right now. In addition to this change in consumer behaviour, businesses are also moving towards greener production methods and more eco-friendly products that are recyclable, compostable, or reusable. When it comes to your garden, there are lots of ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Compost, eco friendly gardening, Eco-friendly, environmentally friendly gardening, Garden, Garden tips, gardening, Grow Your Own, Recycling, sustainable gardening, Top Tips, upcycling, watering

How to make leaf mould – easy, free garden fertiliser!

October 29, 2020 by Catherine 1 Comment

This post contains affiliate links.  Affiliate links will be clearly marked with a * and if you click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission from that sale. With autumn getting into full swing, more leaves are falling from the trees each day. This is good news for family walks - who doesn’t love stomping through a big pile of crispy leaves?  It’s also good news for gardeners, as fallen autumn leaves give us ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Autumn, Compost, Garden, Garden maintenance, gardening, Leaves, Soil, Top Tips

Eco gardening: sustainable gardening tips for greener gardens

July 24, 2020 by Catherine 1 Comment

How much do you know about eco gardening?  It’s certainly a big issue in the gardening world right now, with high-profile gardeners and TV shows championing the benefits of sustainable gardening. What is eco gardening? Eco gardening is all about minimising human interference, and using natural resources and processes.  This doesn’t mean you have to allow your garden to become a wilderness, rather that you should aim to reduce ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Compost, eco friendly gardening, environmentally friendly gardening, Garden, Garden furniture, Garden maintenance, Garden tips, Garden tools, garden trends, gardening, gardening equipment, Pest Control, reducing plastic use, sustainable gardening, watering, Weed control, Wildlife, Wildlife gardening

11. The 10 minute gardener: winter wildlife gardening

January 23, 2018 by Catherine 5 Comments

wildlife gardening frosty seedheads

Welcome to a special wildlife gardening edition in the 10 minute gardener series.  This time I’m looking at quick gardening jobs you can fit into a busy schedule that will help your local wildlife during winter. Winter is a tough season for garden wildlife; the cold weather demands high-energy food, but natural food sources are hard to find.  Because we don’t spend as much time outdoors in winter, it’s easy to forget that our local wildlife is ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Garden jobs this month Tagged With: Birds, Compost, Garden, gardening, Minibeasts, Nature, Top Tips, Wildlife, Wildlife gardening, Winter

1. The 10-minute gardener: early winter gardening jobs

November 29, 2017 by Catherine Leave a Comment

choisya frost

So here’s my dilemma: life with a young family is hectic and it’s never easy to carve out time for hobbies.  And my big passion is gardening, which by it’s very nature involves season-specific maintenance that, no matter how crazy family life gets, I can’t really ignore without suffering the consequences.  The last thing I want to do is turn my passion into an endless list of chores that I feel like I’m failing on.  What to do? Mulling over ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Garden jobs this month Tagged With: Birds, Compost, Containers, Family, Garden, Planning, Top Tips, Weeds, Wildlife, Winter

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 ...

Read More »

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

How to create an eco-friendly garden

April 28, 2016 by Catherine Leave a Comment

make your garden eco friendly with these easy tips from ecoscape composite decking

When it comes to your garden, do you try to be as eco-friendly as possible? Minimising our impact on the planet is by no means a new trend, and we're all very familiar with ways to be more environmentally-friendly around the home; recycling packaging, choosing low-energy light bulbs, and insulating our houses well are all pretty much the norm these days.  But what about extending this way of living to our gardens? I bet when it comes to the ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Compost, Eco-friendly, Garden, gardening, Homegrown, Minibeasts, Nature, Outdoors, Plants, Top Tips, Vegetables, Wildlife

Gardening for beginners with Charlie Dimmock & Poundland

March 4, 2016 by Catherine Leave a Comment

petunias pink summer flowering plants

Do you love the idea of gardening, but don't really know where to start?  Perhaps you feel like you don't have the right tools, or are unsure about which plants to choose.  Maybe you want to get the kids involved and would like some tips on what to grow with them, or you might be worried about spending lots of money on plants and equipment, only to get it all wrong! If this all sounds familiar, take a look at this great little video by ...

Read More »

Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Children, Compost, Containers, Flowers, Garden, gardening, Homegrown, Plants, Top Tips, Vegetables

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »

Hi, I’m Catherine. Welcome to Growing Family, a top UK home & garden blog sharing ideas, inspiration and tips for making the most of busy family life, indoors and out.
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

ORDER MY BOOK

Search

VuelioTop10Badge2020

CandideTop10Badge2019

BRAMBLECREST GARDEN FURNITURE

Connect

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

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

container plants hanging basket
digging the garden in wellies
garden party
container gardening with children and dobbies garden centres

AMAZON ASSOCIATE

 As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright Growing Family 2022. Design by Stacey Corrin.