 Friday, November 06, 2009 by Barbara Pleasant (2 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 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, July 10, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (3 comments)
Growing your own food is the best way to ensure that you know exactly what went into producing it. However, most gardeners are unable to be completely self-sufficient in food and have to also rely on fruit and vegetables grown commercially. It is this which makes the question of pesticide residues so important – what exactly is on the fruit and vegetables we buy? Should we only buy higher priced organic produce or is it OK to compromise? The best way to answer this is to look at the extent of the pesticide problem... Read more...
Categories: pesticide, fruit, vegetables |
Friday, May 08, 2009 by Barbara Pleasant (14 comments)
After 30 years of growing tomatoes, I am still discovering great tomato varieties, and there’s no end in sight. Consider the numbers. Let’s say there are 800 legitimate tomato varieties, and you have room to grow 4 varieties each year. After gardening for a century, you will have tasted about half of them. So here's my favorite varieties together with the reasons why I love them... Read more...
Categories: tomatoes, vegetables, gardening |
Friday, April 10, 2009 by Jeremy Dore and Barbara Pleasant (0 comments)
GrowVeg.com started life in Britain as a way to help gardeners organize their vegetable gardens and achieve more success through good planning. From the start we wanted to make a tool which made it intuitive to plan, space and rotate crops without having to wade through encyclopedias of gardening. What soon became apparent was the exploding interest in home-grown food developing around the world. Within a few weeks we had people emailing us from North America, Australia and across Europe. Just over a year on we are now a truly international company and I am delighted to welcome American garden expert Barbara Pleasant to introduce herself as our second regular contributor to GrowBlog… Read more...
Categories: GrowVeg.com, vegetables, gardening |
Friday, March 27, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (11 comments)
Plug plants are seedlings which have been germinated and grown in trays of small cells. When the roots have grown sufficiently they can be easily pushed out of the trays and either transplanted into larger pots or planted outside in the ground. Plug plants used to be largely confined to bedding plants and flowers but all that is now changing as edible gardening becomes more popular. Many nurseries and seed companies have started to sell a range of vegetable plug plants and these offer a very easy route to starting a productive garden. So what are the benefits of using plug plants and are they worth producing yourself Read more...
Categories: plug plants gardening vegetables |
Friday, March 20, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (6 comments)
The media image of the vegetable gardener is the typical suburban house in beautiful surroundings with plenty of space to grow things. In reality, many people who want to grow their own food don’t have a large back garden or convenient access to a plot of land. Particularly in cities, living in a shared house or an apartment can mean that there is only room for a few pots of salad by the back door. So what do you do if you want to grow more food but don’t have the space? One option that is becoming increasingly popular is the idea of sharing someone else’s garden or backyard... Read more...
Categories: garden vegetables city |
Friday, March 06, 2009 by Jeremy Dore (5 comments)
One of the most confusing terms that new vegetable gardeners come across is ‘bolting’. Also known as ‘running to seed’ this is where a plant suddenly, often in a matter of a few days, starts to grow flower stems, simultaneously stopping all useful growth of the vegetable itself. It is not just a problem for people new to growing edible plants – experienced gardeners also have to manage this problem as I found out last week when several salad plants I have been carefully over-wintering in my greenhouse suddenly shot up central stems. Once the flower shoots form not only is growth slowed as the plants put all their energy into reproducing but they can rapidly become unusable in the kitchen as well. Lettuce, for example, becomes bitter tasting and the leaves are less tender once the plant has bolted. So what can be done to prevent it? Read more...
Categories: salad vegetables bolting |
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 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 |