 Friday, July 02, 2010 by Jeremy Dore (4 comments)
When summer temperatures start to soar many people reach for the hosepipe and sprinkler to keep their lawn and garden looking good. It is convenient to have endless water ‘on tap’ but it is also very ecologically expensive – clean drinking water takes energy to produce and a sprinkler can use 1000 litres (200 gallons) an hour. That’s the same amount of water that a whole family uses in two days. Multiply that by millions of homes and it soon becomes apparent why this can be bad news for the regional water supply, often resulting in a hosepipe ban to conserve water. So what alternative exist for keeping your fruit and vegetables well watered? Read more...
Categories: gardening watering |
Friday, June 18, 2010 by Jeremy Dore (14 comments)
If I had to pick a fruit that benefits from home-growing more than any other it would be strawberries. The taste of fresh strawberries heralds the arrival of summer for many people but modern methods of mass-cultivation often leave shop-bought varieties tasting bland or mushy. Contrast this with the soft fragrant strawberries picked from your own garden and the supermarket offerings seem very poor in comparison. For the best tasting perfectly ripe strawberries there is only one option: grow them yourself. Read more...
Categories: gardening organic strawberry |
 Friday, June 11, 2010 by Barbara Pleasant (1 comments)
Perhaps a few people get lucky on their first try, but most gardeners spend several seasons learning how to grow broccoli. This is because garden broccoli has more precise cultural requirements compared to other vegetables. On every level – timing, soil fertility, spacing, and pest management – broccoli’s rather exact needs must be met. But once you figure out broccoli’s secret formula for success, you can look forward to bountiful yields of this popular and nutritious vegetable. Read more...
Categories: gardening broccoli |
Friday, June 04, 2010 by Jeremy Dore (8 comments)
Most gardeners have experienced the disappointment of carefully raising a vegetable crop only to have it damaged or destroyed by an invasion of pests such as slugs, aphids or other bugs. The traditional advice in such situations is to heavily spray crops with pesticides but many of us prefer to use nature's own organic controls for the food we are going to eat. Trap cropping is one of those valuable organic techniques and is regularly used by organic farmers yet few gardeners are aware of the benefits it offers... Read more...
Categories: organic gardening pests |
Friday, May 21, 2010 by Jeremy Dore (3 comments)
Earlier this week one of the large DIY Chain stores sent me their catalogue with 'Grow Your Own' proclaimed prominently on the front cover. Intrigued by what a store that sells bathroom suites could offer me for growing vegetables I took a look before relegating it to the recycling pile. I was amazed by how much they consider necessary equipment for vegetable gardening and how expensive it would be to purchase when most gardeners know there are cheaper and more effective ways to do things... Read more...
Categories: vegetable gardening economy |
Friday, May 14, 2010 by Barbara Pleasant (26 comments)
Summer squash (Cucurbita pepo) is fast and easy to grow in warm summer weather, and the plants are often phenomenally productive. Courgettes (zucchini), yellow squash, Middle Eastern types and scallop squash are all summer squash. In my garden, I may grow three or four varieties, though I grow no more than six summer squash plants, total. The big, burly plants take up quite a bit of space in the garden, which you don't want to waste by growing more than you will actually eat. And then there is the more serious risk of boring the household cook to the point where he or she puts their foot down and says they have simply had enough. In a good year, summer squash burnout becomes an imminent risk in most gardening households. Read more...
Categories: gardening summer squash |
Friday, May 07, 2010 by Jeremy Dore (10 comments)
Weeding is one of the least popular jobs to be done in a vegetable garden. If the weather is fine and there is time to spare then it can be quite enjoyable. However, during busy periods weeds can quickly take hold and controlling them feels like more of a battle than a leisure activity. So, what are the best ways to keep weeds under control without resorting to harmful methods such as weedkillers? Read more...
Categories: weeding vegetables gardening |
Friday, April 23, 2010 by Jeremy Dore (9 comments)
To most people plant pots are just throwaway items – flimsy bits of plastic packaging for houseplants bought from a garden centre or DIY store. To gardeners, however, plant pots are an essential part of raising plants from seed - which often predominates the early parts of spring when the ground is still too cold for outdoor sowing. Choosing plant pots and containers is something we may not give much thought to but there are a surprising number of options and choosing the best types can make a big difference to the success of young plants... Read more...
Categories: gardening growing pots |
Friday, April 16, 2010 by Barbara Pleasant (6 comments)
This time of year my garden is so littered with pots, cloches, and flapping sheets of row cover (garden fleece) that it looks just plain trashy. This is a temporary state of affairs that will soon pass as the weather settles down, but meanwhile the view is cluttered at best. The untidy scene is worth bearing in light of the good work being done by various mud-smudged objects, each of which has an important job that helps protect young veggies from the stresses of the season... Read more...
Categories: gardening seedling protection |
Saturday, April 10, 2010 by Jeremy Dore (8 comments)
Traditional gardening advice is often based on a scaled-down version of agriculture: dig in manure, till the soil, plant the seeds, wait until they mature, harvest and then you’re done for the year. The problem with this is that it assumes you have plenty of land which is often not the case for home-growing. Over the years several techniques have been developed which can dramatically increase the quantity of vegetables you can grow in a garden area but how do you know which will work well for your situation? Here’s a concise guide to the available options... Read more...
Categories: gardening vegetables succession planting intercropping deep beds |