 Friday, October 09, 2009 by Barbara Pleasant (3 comments)
Depending on who you ask, pride is either a sin (St. Augustine) or a virtue (Aristotle). As a gardener, it does not feel wrong to gloat with pride over a perfect head of cabbage, but it can get you into trouble. For example, you can become so spellbound by a savoy’s crinkled leaves or the artful veins in a red head that you spend excessive time admiring them when you should be eating them. Is this what St. Augustine meant by “a love of one’s own excellence?” Read more...
Categories: gardening cabbage |
 Friday, October 02, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (2 comments)
It seems that nearly every celebrity chef is embracing the idea that growing your own food is worthwhile. Last week I watched a cookery program in which the presenter took a portable stove down to some London allotment gardens and cooked up a delicious lunch from ingredients picked in situ. Such programs may simply be a reaction to the current surge of interest in the source and quality of our food but it has always been true that the very best cooks need the very best ingredients. Where better to source those special culinary delights than from your own garden? Read more...
Categories: gardening vegetables fruit taste |
Friday, September 25, 2009 by Barbara Pleasant (3 comments)
If you garden where winter temperatures often drop below 10°F (-12°C), setting up a winter tunnel in autumn can bring tremendous payoffs. You can use the protection of a plastic-covered tunnel to extend the harvest of late-season leafy greens or to improve the winter survival of marginally hardy plants. Lastly, a tunnel or frame makes a fine home for late sowings of super-hardy spinach and mache. The little seedlings will sit patiently through the coldest months and explode with new growth first thing in spring. Read more...
Categories: Gardening winter protection |
Friday, September 18, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (4 comments)
The very best tasting tomatoes are those that are ‘vine ripened’ – left to reach a deep vibrant colour on the plant. Nothing beats the taste of freshly picked ripe tomatoes which are, without question, infinitely superior to shop-bought produce. However, as the season draws on and temperatures start to drop there are invariably lots of green tomatoes left on the plants that don’t quite ripen in time. Rather than wasting them, why not try some easy techniques to ripen them indoors? Read more...
Categories: gardening tomatoes |
Friday, September 11, 2009 by Barbara Pleasant (0 comments)
Everyone has an opinion on turnips. They either like them or they don’t, and it doesn’t matter whether you’re talking about turnips’ super-nutritious greens or crunchy roots. This food finickiness can present a problem in autumn, when turnips plump up like magic in gardens. The next thing you know, your house is divided into turnip lovers and turnip haters, and cooking from the garden has become a sticky business. Here are several great recipe ideas to help turn your harvest of turnips into dishes your family likes to eat! Read more...
Categories: cooking turnips |
Friday, September 04, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (15 comments)
I recently returned home after camping with my family to find four of my tomato plants had been attacked by blight while I was away. All the symptoms were there – blotches on the leaves and stems, fruit turning brown and sections of the plant dying. My first concern was how to prevent it spreading to my many other tomatoes and to keep it from affecting next year’s crop. Understanding how plant diseases and pests spread is central to this as may plant diseases and pests can survive over winter in a garden, ready to attack young seedlings the following year. Read more...
Categories: garden disease pests |
Friday, August 28, 2009 by Barbara Pleasant (1 comments)
Fast and dependable, beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) are among the most popular crops grown in gardens. Over 85 percent of GrowVeg users grow beans, which come in a huge array of types and colors. Trying them all will keep you busy for years, especially if you grow both snap beans and shelling types. Read more...
Categories: gardening beans |
Thursday, August 20, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (6 comments)
When talking with new gardeners I am often asked what vegetables I would recommend for beginners to grow. To their surprise I often suggest swiss chard and the usual response is “what’s that?” Chard is one of the most versatile vegetables available and will keep cropping from early summer right through winter. Not only that but it is incredibly easy to grow, suffers from almost no pests and will withstand most forms of neglect in a garden – erratic watering, competing weeds and even poor soil... Read more...
Categories: Gardening chard |
Friday, August 14, 2009 by Barbara Pleasant (4 comments)
My little patch of sweet corn is only 3 rows deep, so I plan to help with the pollination process. Unlike most garden crops, which are pollinated by insects or vibration, corn depends on wind to bring its male and female parts together. In a small planting, pollen shed by the tassels at the tops of the plants (the male parts) may blow away before enough of the microscopic grains land on the silks at the ear tips (the female parts). Fortunately, it’s easy enough to lend a hand. Read more...
Categories: gardening pollination corn |
Friday, August 07, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (17 comments)
Hot chilli peppers are something I have always had mixed success with. Usually I grow plenty of sweet peppers with a few chilli plants on the side. Yet despite trying several varieties over the past few years I have rarely managed to get much heat out of home grown peppers. Growing here in the UK does mean they take longer to ripen and need extra care and attention. Still, the results were disappointing – plenty of peppers but where was the heat? Read more...
Categories: gardening peppers |