We’re almost there.... February is underway and spring is just around the corner. I still want it to hurry up though! It really won’t be long before I’m up to my neck in packets of seed and fussing over my labelled pots like a mother hen. But the fact remains that it’s still winter, and most plants just won’t tolerate being started off until the weather warms up a bit and the light improves. There are some that will happily get ...
How to grow radish
Radish can really perk up a salad, and it's speed of growth makes it great to grow with children too. This guest post has lots of tips to help you get a bumper harvest. Radish is very easy to grow, and doesn't need any complicated care measures. It handles low temperatures well and the vegetation period is short, so it is perfect for cultivation in early spring, although you may also sow it at the end of summer for the autumn ...
Clever container gardening with Lechuza planters
Does your garden have lots of container plants? Container gardening is often the way we get into gardening, trying things out on a small scale before gaining the confidence to branch out into bigger projects. But it's also ideal for renters who like the idea of a portable garden, home owners with limited outdoor space, and parents who are keen to encourage the kids to develop their green fingers and explore nature. Whatever your motivation, ...
My garden-inspired Cadbury Dairy Milk Bar – and how you can invent the next flavour!
Oh I’ve been having so much fun with this! I’ve had a chance to combine two of my favourite things: grow-your-own and all things chocolate. Sometimes my job is just so hard 😉 Have you seen the latest Cadbury Dairy Milk campaign yet? It’s a fab competition which invites the nation to ‘go madbury for Cadbury’ and create their very own Cadbury Dairy Milk bar to sit alongside the iconic range of faves such as Cadbury Dairy Milk, Whole ...
Fun gardening: How to grow your name in courgettes
This may sound like a rather odd title for a post, but bear with me.... If you're growing courgettes this year, right now you're likely to be inundated with them, and busy trying to find new recipes to use them in or giving them away to friends, neighbours and any random stranger who'll take them. This makes it the perfect time to grow a name in one of your courgettes; it's dead easy, takes a couple of minutes and is an absolutely brilliant, ...
Review: First Tunnels Mini Polytunnel
If you grow your own fruit and vegetables on any scale, you're probably familiar with trying to keep pests away from your precious crops. Caterpillars, birds, slugs and snails... there's a seemingly endless list of hungry garden visitors who will happily feast on your plants and crops given the chance. And while I actively encourage local wildlife to visit our garden and allotment, I do want to enjoy some produce myself too! Some crops are ...
Grow Your Own for kids: how to grow salad
Over the last few years my kids have got involved with lots of different aspects of gardening; they've sown seeds, harvested crops, dug, planted, watered, weeded and simply played in the mud. They love all of it, but if you asked them what their favourite gardening job was, they'd say growing plants from seeds every time. I can understand why. There's just something so magical about planting a seed, watering it, and watching a tiny ...
Stylish Grow Your Own with Elho
Do you like the idea of growing your own, but struggle with the practicalities? There are lots of fruit and vegetables that will grow perfectly happily without the need for a great big plot of land and lots of expertise, but you may still have reservations. Perhaps you think your outdoor space is too small, or you simply aren’t crazy about having functional plastic plant pots on your patio! With recent focus on things like food miles, organic ...
How to grow potatoes in a bag
It's potato planting time! I think it's impossible to beat the taste of homegrown new potatoes, and they're not difficult to grow at all. In fact they're a brilliant veg to grow with kids; they're nice and chunky to handle when planting, the kids get to pile soil on them as they grow, and harvest time is basically a treasure hunt as all those lovely spuds are unearthed! If you've got lots of room in the garden or at an allotment, you can ...
What to plant now – Container Vegetables
So we’re into April - which means the growing season is well and truly underway and you can really get cracking with sowing seeds. You may not have an allotment or a large vegetable plot in the garden, but there are lots of vegetables that can be grown really successfully in containers. Here are my top container vegetables to plant this month. Carrots Carrots have a bit of a reputation for being tricky to grow, because they don’t like ...