The new “must-have” crop for the small kitchen garden. Grown in pots or in soil, garlic and onions are started before summer crops and removed just when summer crops need extra space. While autumn planted is best, there is no reason not to rush in some cloves of garlic now and start the onions indoors …Read More about Garlic and onions – “must have” crop
Posts relating to winter
Planting winter leeks
After the reasonably successful experiment of planting onions and garlic in the raised bed it is time to continue the experiment and plant winter leeks. The raised bed is filled with maturing tomatoes and cucumbers so the leeks will now be planted along the vacant front section where the onions were grown. Leeks are incredibly …Read More about Planting winter leeks
Finishing winter salad
This is the time of year to be starting spring salads in trays and pots. As long as temperatures remain above 5 degrees seeds can be directly sown into containers and left to grow. With the recent mild winters it is possible to grow a good quantity of salad crops year round. The mainstay of …Read More about Finishing winter salad
A bit of recycling
At this time of year with the advent of planting season you can go through a lot of plant containers, especially if you give a lot of plants away. The standard 2 litre milk carton, with the top cut off, makes a good intermediary container for bean plants. The beans are started in plastic boxes …Read More about A bit of recycling
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