Growing Family

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

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Tips for saving seeds in autumn

September 3, 2020 by Catherine 3 Comments

honesty seeds

With autumn getting underway and many plants starting to shut down for the colder months, now is a good time to try saving seeds from your garden.  Like dividing existing plants, saving seeds is a great way to get lots of new plants for free - and it’s easier than you might think. How do I save seeds for next year? If you'd like to have a go at saving seeds from your garden, read on to find out how to do it, plus some suggestions for ...

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Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Autumn, Flowers, Garden, gardening, Harvest, Plants, Seeds, Top Tips

How to grow potatoes in bags and pots: easy step-by-step guide

March 10, 2020 by Catherine 40 Comments

potatoes with shovel

It's potato planting time! If you'd like learn how to grow potatoes in bags, this guide covers everything you need to know. As well as a guide to growing potatoes in bags and pots, there's an explanation of the different potato varieties and tips on the best potatoes to grow in containers. Growing potatoes in bags and pots I think it's impossible to beat the taste of homegrown new potatoes, and they're not difficult to grow at all.  In ...

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Filed Under: Grow Your Own Tagged With: Allotment, Containers, Crops, Food, Garden, gardening, Grow Your Own, Harvest, Homegrown, Planting, Potatoes, Spring, Top Tips, Vegetables

Autumn activities for kids outdoors: free printable

September 12, 2019 by Catherine 18 Comments

Are you looking for inspiration on activities for kids outdoors this autumn? These simple, low-cost ideas for outdoor play in autumn will make it easier for you to get outside and have fun. There's also a free printable autumn bucket list to grab - scroll down for more details! There's so much to enjoy outdoors in autumn.  The weather is still mild, the sunlight is at a fabulous angle, and nature is visibly changing everywhere you ...

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Filed Under: Exploring Nature Tagged With: Activity, Autumn, Children, Community, craft, Family, Harvest, Nature, Outdoors, Seeds, Top Tips

Tips for preserving your homegrown harvest

March 19, 2018 by Catherine Leave a Comment

Whether you have an allotment, a small vegetable patch, or a couple of fruit trees in your conservatory, it's great to be able to preserve what you grow.  Preserving what you grow means that you can enjoy nutritious food year-round, and keep your food bill under control. The problem is that it can be hard to find enough time to get everything done while the fruit and vegetables are still fresh enough to work with. All too often, everything ...

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Filed Under: Grow Your Own Tagged With: Crops, Food, Fruit, gardening, Grow Your Own, Harvest, Homegrown, preserving, Top Tips, Vegetables

Review: Qwerkity Grow Cage plant protection

May 15, 2017 by Catherine Leave a Comment

grow cage plant protection

Do you grow soft fruit or leafy veg in your garden or allotment?  If the answer is yes, chances are you know the pain of trying to protect it from hungry wildlife! Since getting our allotment three years ago, we've tried to grow lettuces, cabbages and broccoli in our raised beds.  Every year, the local pigeons have a good old feast before the plants get really established; we've tried using netting, but we've never managed to get the supports ...

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Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Allotment, Birds, Crops, Garden, gardening, Grow cage, Harvest, Homegrown, Plant protection, Planting, Plants, Raised bed, Reviews, Soft fruit, Top Tips, Vegetables

2. The 10 minute gardener: Midwinter gardening jobs

December 17, 2016 by Catherine 2 Comments

If ever there was a week on the calendar where you need to cut back the garden jobs, it’s this one!  Frankly the garden and allotment are nowhere near the top of my to do list; our house is awash with wrapping paper, teacher presents, half-finished festive jobs and crazed children, and I feel like I’m clinging on by my fingernails.  Yes, it’s all lovely fun stuff, but hectic nonetheless. But surely I can reclaim 10 minutes from somewhere for ...

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Filed Under: Garden jobs this month Tagged With: Activity, Allotment, Christmas, Crops, Flowers, Garden, Harvest, Plants, Support, Top Tips, Vegetables, Winter

5. A Grow-Your-Own Photographic Diary with Baby Bio Outdoor

September 22, 2016 by Catherine 9 Comments

grow-your-own photographic diary sweetcorn

Welcome to the final instalment for this year in my photographic diary series. Since late Spring, I've been keeping a grow-your-own photographic diary of my allotment, and it's been such a brilliant project.  It's allowed me to follow my plants' progress really easily, and given me a reference point for next year's planning.  It's also been hugely rewarding seeing the growing journey from tiny seedling right through to harvest. To help my ...

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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

4. A Grow-Your-Own Photographic Diary with Baby Bio Outdoor

August 22, 2016 by Catherine Leave a Comment

grow-your-own photographic diary courgette flowers

Harvest time is in full swing :) This is the fourth update in my photographic diary series.  For the whole growing season this year I'm keeping a grow-your-own photographic diary of my allotment.  It's a way of following my plants' progress, and creating a reference for when I'm planning next year's crops. To help my plants thrive and produce bigger crops, I'm using Baby Bio® Outdoor Fruit & Vegetables. Baby Bio® Outdoor Fruit & ...

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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

3. A Grow-Your-Own Photographic Diary with Baby Bio Outdoor

July 26, 2016 by Catherine Leave a Comment

grow-your-own photographic diary 3 sweetcorn

Welcome to the third post in my photographic diary series.  I'm keeping a grow-your-own photographic diary of my allotment this Summer, using Baby Bio® Outdoor Fruit & Vegetables to help my plants thrive and produce bigger crops. Why keep a photographic diary of your plants?  Well for starters, it's been so interesting seeing just how fast my plants have grown; when you're not documenting the growing season in any way, it's really easy to ...

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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

3. Taking the Big Boost Challenge with Baby Bio

July 18, 2016 by Catherine Leave a Comment

Welcome to the latest update on my Baby Bio® Big Boost Challenge project. The Big Boost Challenge involves using Baby Bio Outdoor® Flowers & Shrubs to show just what a difference the right plant food can make to your plants' size, health and number of flowers. Baby Bio® Outdoor Flowers & Shrubs is a liquid feed tailored to the needs of flowering plants and shrubs, giving you up to 70% more flowers compared with not feeding.  It aims ...

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Filed Under: Garden Tips Tagged With: Baby Bio, Containers, Crops, Flowers, Fruit, Garden, gardening, Harvest, Homegrown, Plant food, Planting, Plants, Summer, Top Tips, Vegetables

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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.
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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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