The weather is still very unpredictable, bright sunny days, slightly cold, but with the constant threat of a sudden chill. Everything started this week and for a few weeks to come will be indoors. The beans started last week and the week before are up and now have an hour outside on sunny afternoons. The …Read More about Planting list – week ending 28 Feb 2016
Highlights of 2016
Anne’s garden Scottish garden visit 2
Anne’s garden I (Anne) have learned to love my little Edinburgh garden over the recent years of my retirement. Half of it is given over to vegetables, grown in slightly raised beds – I dug out the existing turf to make that possible. The other half is shrubs and flowers, most if which I inherited …Read More about Anne’s garden Scottish garden visit 2
Planting list – week ending 21 Feb 2016
Seed planting starts indoors each year around mid February. This has changed over the last few years as the winters have extended. The first batch of seeds are chilli peppers are these seeds are slow to germinate and the plants need as much summer as they can get. These were followed with a batch of …Read More about Planting list – week ending 21 Feb 2016
Graham Bell Scottish garden visit 1
This was a quick visit to Graham Bell’s forest garden in Coldstream, Scotland. The visit with Frank was to see the garden in winter. Graham has been building the garden for over 20 years and has created one of the finest examples of a permaculture forest garden in a cool climate.
Feed the birds
Attracting birds to the garden is a clever gardening strategy. In return for some simple bird food the birds then scavenge around the beds and eat any pests. It is also nice in the winter months to have regular bird visitors to the garden providing a bit of life and colour to the otherwise quiet …Read More about Feed the birds
Where do bees go in winter?
Honey bees spend the winter in a hive. Bumble bees have a different life cycle where the queen will spend the winter alone in small burrowed nest in the ground. In the spring she will emerge to find a larger nest to lay eggs and rear young. Over the summer a small colony emerges. Come …Read More about Where do bees go in winter?