01Oct
This year I grew sweet peas ‘Heaven scent’ in a large ornamental 12” plastic pot, up a small obelisk. They bloomed throughout the summer providing a constant source of fragrant colourful bouquets. Previously, back in...
News
24Sep
September and October are harvest times, with an abundance of lovely fruit and vegetables in season. Ben has cooked us up a delicious plate of mushrooms, with cherry tomatoes and. peppers, spring onions and spinach. You can grow your own too!
27Aug
There are all sorts of bulbs, corms, tuberous roots and rhizomes available to suit different growing conditions, locations and soils. Most require good drainage and prefer sunny locations. Our native varieties have acclimatised to our...
13Aug
Unsightly wildflowers or beautiful weeds? We revel in the sight of wildflower meadows full of colour but are repelled by brambles and stinging nettles. Some of those plants classified as weeds (ie a plant growing...
25Jun
It's probably a little late now as the recent downpours combined with hailstorms have smashed the blossom heads but here's an easy recipe for elderflower champagne. Pick your flower heads on a sunny day so they are dry...
21May
Ideas for Childrens' Gardening Week - sprouting soon! (sorry for delay in getting these posted - busy, busy!) Easy to grow seeds with fairly quick results include cress, radishes, dwarf green beans and courgette; nasturtiums, pot...
30Apr
I’ve taken to taking my lunch outdoors - good for some sunshine, the vitamin D and a break from working at the computer but I don’t know if it’s a rest! The view of the manure...
23Apr
In out in out shake it all about - do the Hokey Cokey and turn around…. A rhyme for our times - whether in lockdown or as a gardener. Now is the time of burgeoning...
16Apr
Sorry we haven't been posting as we have been extraordinarily busy, events rather overtook us. We will be back with more tips and news on what to sow now and how to grow your lovely...
20Feb
Initially thought to be aphrodisiac, the French call them 'pommes d'amour' (love apples), Italian 'pomodoro' (golden apple). Tomatoes are our most popular fruit but used as a vegetable, mandatory in Mediterranean cooking. Assorted sizes, shapes, colours...
06Feb
Native to South America, chili peppers are now widespread throughout the culinary world. Used as a vegetable or fruit, smoked or dried and ground as a spice these versatile chillies are botanically a berry. Good for you too, a Jalapeno pepper has more vitamin C than an orange.
02Jan
Shetland Black, Mayan Gold, Rocket, Mary’s Rose, Charlotte and Anya, Pink Fir Apple, Sharpe’s Express, Pentland Javelin or King Edward. Just the names can evoke memories of warm summer salads or jacket potatoes raked from the bonfire embers. Choose your own varieties to grow, to match the dishes you enjoy cooking and eating.
We like Red Duke of York, baked in their skins to balls of fluff with a dollop of sour cream&chives.Or Carlingford, firm and waxy; boiled and doused in mint or parsley butter. Charlotte is the most popular salad potato in the UK; slightly waxy, they hold their shape well and are delicious hot or cold. Casablanca, a new white fleshed first early, very versatile it can be boiled, baked or chipped. Sarpo Potatoes are a unique family of varieties developed for their superb taste; all able to resist potato blight and be easy to grow for any gardener or allotment holder