 Friday, February 06, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (8 comments)
I love choosing seeds for the coming year. Spending time browsing through the pages of various seed catalogues is a dreamy experience: it is all about buying into the vision of summer filled with perfect crops and a beautiful garden. This year, I got my orders in early and now have my treasure-box of seed packets, all neatly sorted, waiting for the weather to warm up sufficiently to get sowing. So I thought it would be worth reviewing what some of the best criteria are for buying seeds... Read more...
Categories: seeds, organic, F1 hybrid, GM, heirloom |
Friday, January 30, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (23 comments)
Wood is a very versatile material for vegetable gardens. Whether it is used to create raised beds, the edges of paths or a frame for protective netting, wood is the natural choice for many gardeners. Apart from being a sustainable resource , it looks good and is great for creating a new structure for vegetable beds that will hold in compost or keep out pests. So when I set out to create a set of long-lasting raised beds for my front garden, wood was my material of choice. Yet, the question of how to keep the wood in good condition is not as simple as it might first appear... Read more...
Categories: raised beds, wood, vegetables |
Friday, January 23, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (7 comments)
Most gardeners instinctively know the benefits of spending time outside growing things. The fresh air, exercise, natural beauty and sense of accomplishment they offer are all deeply satisfying to the human psyche. Gardens also provide wonderful opportunities to build connections between people. I probably have more conversations with my neighbours while tending the vegetable garden at the front of my house than at any other time and often strangers will stop to chat about what I’m growing. These qualities highlight how valuable gardening can be as a therapy and that’s exactly what one inspirational charity uses it for...Read more...
Categories: gardening disability |
Friday, January 16, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (5 comments)
A greenhouse is a wonderful addition to almost any garden. It enables you to grow tender plants earlier, ripen crops that need more warmth and keep harvesting later in the season. Unlike other garden protection such as cloches and row covers which need removing whenever you want to weed or water, greenhouses make tending your plants much easier. However, it’s not just plants that enjoy the protection of a greenhouse – pests and diseases love them too, avoiding the harsh weather and frosts that usually kill them off! So how do you stop them from enjoying a sheltered existence where they can strike at your new sown plants? The answer is a good spring clean... Read more...
Categories: greenhouse clean slugs aphids pests diseases |
Friday, January 09, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (5 comments)
No one can deny the surge of high expectations that have spread across the world since the election of Barack Obama last November. Many have already declared his presidency to be a critical turning point in the history of America. Indeed, one of the central themes of Obama’s campaign was that ‘Change can Happen.’ So it is no surprise then that there is a lot of debate over what changes will be prioritised under the new administration. What may be more surprising is that one of the first things he is being asked to do is dig up the White House lawn! In the spirit of leading by example – already something that Obama is known for – he is being asked to create a modern day ‘victory garden’ to feed the White House and local communities. Read more...
Categories: gardening america usa vegetables |
Friday, January 02, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (1 comments)
Salad is one of the easiest groups of plants to grow and one of the most rewarding. When I first became interested in growing my own food, lettuce was how I started. A few seeds sprinkled on good compost in a pot, kept watered in summer will rarely fail to produce plenty of leaves. In fact, I would still recommend it as the ideal first crop for beginners as it will always surpass what you can buy in a supermarket. However, lettuce sown in Summer is just part of the story – what about a wider variety of salad tastes, extending the season through the year and trying some of the more exotic salad vegetables such as Amaranth and Komatsuna? Read more...
Categories: salad organic lettuce |
Friday, December 26, 2008 by Jeremy Dore (0 comments)
Talk to anyone well versed in the issues of climate change or peak oil and conversation will inevitably turn to the need to source things more locally. The fact that supermarkets grow fresh salad ingredients in Africa, using valuable water and then fly them in to European markets is crazy from an ecological perspective. Most people can see the problems with air-freighted food but what if we were to take it several steps further and only eat what can be produced in our locality? Yes, that’s right – depend on the land around us as people did in past centuries, rather than a global food market. It may seem a bit extreme in the modern world but that is exactly what Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon set out to do in Canada in 2005. Read more...
Categories: local food supermarket market |
Friday, December 19, 2008 by Jeremy Dore (3 comments)
There was a time in my life when green vegetables conjured up images of a bit of soggy boiled cabbage on the side of the plate. No surprise then that such vegetables were never high on my list of favourite foods. But things have moved on and green vegetables now rank amongst my favourite foods. Why the change? Last week I wrote about how green vegetables such as kale are great sources of nutrients to boost the immune system. If that weren’t motivation enough, I now think they taste fantastic. However, for that fantastic taste, you have to prepare and cook them carefully, so I thought I would pass on some great ways to eat your greens.. Read more...
Categories: cook vegetables broccoli kale cabbage spinach chard |
Friday, December 12, 2008 by Jeremy Dore (1 comments)
A few weeks ago I completed a food diary of everything I ate and drank for a week. This was for the EPIC study: a long-term research project being undertaken across Europe to look at the prevelance of cancer and its relation to diet. I found that there’s nothing like writing everything down to make you acutely aware of just how much you snack during the day and for me one thing stood out: chocolate! So when my family succumbed to a bout of flu last week I decided it was time to clean up my act and try to boost my immunity. But just what changes would be necessary? Read more...
Categories: Immunity health vegetables fruit |
Friday, December 05, 2008 by Jeremy Dore (7 comments)
It has always amazed me how garden centres transform themselves at Christmas. For most of the year they are the model of practicality – full of useful tools, seeds and compost to help turn your scruffy garden into a paradise of vegetation – with perhaps a few gifts at the side. Then at Christmas it’s as if they have to let their hair down for one month of the year. Vast areas of seeds and tools are cleared away to be taken over by singing gnomes, dancing Santas and all manner of Christmas gifts. Is it just me or are they missing a great opportunity for friends and family to buy something a gardener will really treasure through the year? With this in mind I thought I would prepare a list of some of the best presents to buy a grow-your-own enthusiast for Christmas... Read more...
Categories: gardening gift Christmas |