For many gardeners this time of year is actually the start of the annual growing cycle. Clearing away this summer’s crops to the compost bin and digging out the finished compost from last year’s garden waste starts the cycle for next year. With an abundance of green material from the garden (tomatoes, beans, cucumber, courgettes, …Read More about Summer’s end compost
Posts relating to garden containers
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)
Kitchen table gardening
The first rule of kitchen table gardening is keep it clean. A heavy plastic table covering works well. For those gardeners without the luxury of an outdoor heated greenhouse the kitchen table makes an ideal workbench. Preparing plants from seed early on in the season (before summer planting starts) means there will be pots of …Read More about Kitchen table gardening
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