 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 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, March 12, 2010 by Jeremy Dore (1 comments)
Kitchen gardening has undergone a revolution over the past decade as garden companies, keen to exploit the resurgence of interest in healthy home-grown vegetables, have pushed the idea of ‘convenience gardening’. This has led to some strange excesses such as the recent expose by Gardening Which magazine that found carrot plug-plants being sold at £1.09 each ($1.60) – more than a whole bunch of organic carrots would normally cost. There is definitely a place for plug plants and convenience but sometimes the traditional methods are worth reviving and the art of creating a seedbed is one of those methods definitely worth learning... Read more...
Categories: organic gardening seeds |
Friday, February 12, 2010 by Jeremy Dore (4 comments)
Have you noticed the extraordinary reversal of interest in the media in recent months? Growing your own food in a natural, organic way and involving the community has become big news. Television crews are being sent to profile community supported agriculture programs, newspaper columns are being written about the need for more allotment growing spaces and politicians are proclaiming that we should eat more local seasonal produce. What is particularly amazing about this is that in any other culture and time all these things would never be considered newsworthy. Only in our crazy modern food system has growing your own food become the exception rather than the rule Read more...
Categories: Food Supermarket Organic |
 Friday, January 22, 2010 by Barbara Pleasant (0 comments)
It’s only January and we’ve used up the last of our stored bulb onions, which would be sad if not for shallots. As I bring a bowl of these chestnut beauties up the basement steps, my mouth starts to water, because I know what lies ahead. A slow simmer in butter or olive oil transforms shallots into a dream version of caramelized onions. Whether I’m chopping and cooking shallots for risotto, pizza, or some incredible sauce, I cook extra to sprinkle with sea salt and eat straight from the pan. They are that good. Read more...
Categories: gardening organic shallots |
Friday, November 13, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (7 comments)
Mint has gained a poor reputation amongst many gardeners. The mere mention of it will bring forth warnings about how invasive and weed-like it can be, choking out all other plants and herbs in the vicinity. Yet I find it hard to hate this delicious herb and, by following a few sensible precautions, it can easily be grown well with a range of uses in the kitchen... Read more...
Categories: gardening organic herb mint |
Friday, November 06, 2009 by Barbara Pleasant (10 comments)
Just when you think the gardening year is over, it's time to plant garlic. The most flavorful member of the onion family is always the last veggie to go into the ground, because garlic cloves start their life cycle by developing roots in cold soil. Then, after at least two months of chilling, the little slivers of green that barely poked up their heads all winter will take off like green rockets. By summer, each little clove will grow into a 3-foot tall plant anchored by a beautiful bulb, ready to dig and cure. Read more...
Categories: organic gardening vegetables garlic |
Friday, October 30, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (8 comments)
Livestock agriculture contributes 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. This fact was thrust into the media’s attention earlier this week when Lord Stern, the author of the influential Stern Review on the costs of tackling global warming, declared that people will need to reduce their consumption of meat if we are to take climate change targets seriously. Whatever your views on this statement, it is clear that home-grown produce is the best source of food if we are to reduce our carbon footprint. Yet the question in many people’s minds is whether a plant-based diet can meet our nutritional requirements for protein? With less livestock would it be feasible to grow everything required for a well-balanced diet? Read more...
Categories: gardening organic grain |
Friday, June 12, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (7 comments)
It is around this time of year that pests seem to appear from nowhere in the garden. Of all the insects that suddenly spring up, aphids are the ones that always take me by surprise – within a matter of days plants can be covered with one of the various varieties of them: whitefly, greenfly, blackfly, mealy aphids and root aphids. So just how serious is it when your garden comes under attack and what can be done to counter such an invasion? Read more...
Categories: organic gardening pests |
Friday, May 29, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (9 comments)
When it comes to feeding plants, nothing beats organic compost. Good compost contains the ideal range of nutrients which are released slowly into the ground as plants need them. Often, however, there is a valid reason to supplement plants with a fertiliser, such as when growing in less than ideal soil, or in pots and containers where the potting soil can gradually lose its nutrients. When choosing how to supplement plants the environmentally conscious gardener faces a dilemma: many commercially produced fertilizers are either chemical based or highly processed and shipped in difficult-to-recycle plastic bottles. But there is one brilliant alternative that you can grow yourself - comfrey... Read more...
Categories: gardening organic comfrey |