Are you managing to get the kids playing outdoors this winter? These fun winter nature crafts will help you tempt them off the sofa! We don’t really see winter as ideal for spending time outdoors with our children, do we? The days are shorter, the weather is often less than inviting, and it’s hard to motivate ourselves to leave the comfort of a cosy house. But in my experience, children just don’t think this way. As far as my ...
Gardening Calendar: What to Plant in January
If you’re anything like me, by January you’ll have had enough of being content with looking forward to sunnier days, and will be longing to get outside and plant something. I dearly love the whole process of coaxing plants into life, and it feels like an age since I last pushed a seed into some earth and willed it to grow. I think I have the gardening equivalent of itchy feet! To satisfy my cravings, I’ve been looking at which plants ...
3. The 10 minute gardener: quick gardening in January
If you always feel like you don't have enough time for gardening, or just need some guidance on what to focus on each month, this is the series for you! Read on for tips and ideas on quick but effective gardening in January. The start of a new year has worked it’s magic on my gardening enthusiasm, as it always does. I’ve replaced the frenzy of Christmas with a gentler form of excitement, and my mind is buzzing with ideas for the ...
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 ...
Stylish Grow Your Own with Elho Green Basics
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 ...
Gift guide: Christmas gifts for the green-fingered
Welcome to my Christmas gift guide, looking at gift ideas for the green-fingered people in your life. I’ve done the hard work for you and hunted down lots of great gift suggestions which are perfect for those who love their garden, nature and the outdoors. Enjoy! Christmas gifts for keen gardeners Garden tools don’t have to look plain and boring; this Fork & Trowel Tool Set, £29.95 from Wild & Wolf’s Thoughtful Gardener range have ...
Gift guide: Christmas gifts for children
Welcome to the second gift guide in my Christmas gifts series. This time I’m looking at gifts for children who love nature and the outdoors. I know my two children have no problem reeling off a long list of toys they’ve seen on adverts and want to put on their Christmas list, and of course there is a place for these gifts in a family Christmas. But in this gift guide I’m focusing on some less obvious gift ideas that tap into children’s natural ...
Top seeds to grow with kids
I have very vivid childhood memories of seed planting - down on my dad’s allotment, eagerly pushing broad beans into little pots of earth and being let loose with the watering can, then immediately asking “when will they grow?”. It was so exciting, being trusted with such an important job whilst being allowed to get grubby in the process. And I really wanted to care for those plants, because I was the one who planted them. When you think about ...