The spring season this year has been a bit of a mess with extreme cold in March and extreme heat in April, continuing into May. These unusual conditions make starting plants from seed and nurturing small plants quite difficult. Cold temperatures at night following hot days can damage young plants. Better to skip over spring …Read More about Summer gardening 2018
Container Gardening
Starting spring salad
Mid March is the usual time for sorting out salad trays and containers in the hope of bright sunny days and light showers to produce an early summer harvest. With the extreme cold weather of the last few weeks and temperatures looking low for the next two weeks, it may be a struggle this year. …Read More about Starting spring salad
Growing potatoes in containers (part 2)
By Mark Willis. Images in article © Mark Willis. Most types of potato fall into one of three main categories related to their harvesting times. No prizes for guessing that a “First Early” type is normally harvested before a “Second Early” type! The term “Maincrop” also gives us a clue that this type is the …Read More about Growing potatoes in containers (part 2)
Growing potatoes in containers (part 1)
By Mark Willis. Images in article © Mark Willis. Most people think that growing potatoes needs a lot of space. It doesn’t. You can grow potatoes on a patio or balcony or in the smallest of gardens, if you use suitable containers. Potatoes are easy to grow, and deliver good value for space. Furthermore, there …Read More about Growing potatoes in containers (part 1)
Finishing chilli peppers
The late bit of sun for October has helped turn the remaining chilli peppers to their end colours. The wet weather after the early summer heat meant none of the plants reached their full potential. This is caused, in part, by the plants sitting in wet soil (even with good drainage). This said, it can …Read More about Finishing chilli peppers
Autumn salad time
This is the best time of year to start salad in the garden. Salad started in the spring invariably runs into summer heat and bolts (goes to seed). Salad started now will benefit from the cooling down in the coming weeks and months providing good quality salad right up to the end of the year. …Read More about Autumn salad time