I should never be surprised when seeds, which have been put in five-litre water bottles and tossed outside, actually start to grow. That’s how nature intended it to be, not in plastic bottles of course, but to battle their way through winter for only the strongest to survive. I am much later than normal at … More Hitting The Bottle
I was brought up with recycling and upcycling as were many people of my generation, even if our younger generation think they were the inventors of it. Instead the younger generation destroyed it by opting for an easier and more lucrative lifestyle of takeaways, ready meals and a plethora of pre-packed produce. I don’t like … More The Serendipity Gardener
The problem with having virtually no garden and growing in containers, is the amount of compost you have to handle in a season. I recycle spent compost, add some nutrients and it has usually been fine but I can’t get away with it with everything. Plants like tomatoes, courgettes etc. are thirsty, hungry, feeders, so … More Gardening Without Worries
Still the plant catalogues are falling through the letter box, advertising plants, seeds and many gifts to give a friendly gardener. I have tried many of their products between encouraging plants to grow and something to scare away the enemies. You can tot up quite a bit between all the deterrents, none of which seem … More Condiments and Coffee
I decided to clear out my seed box. It’s one way of finding packets of seeds you think you’ve lost, as well as reminding you what seeds you’ve either collected or bought for the current year. An old, cheap, plastic toolbox which my late father had to keep odds and ends in has come in … More Come Clean With Seeds
Just into the new year and already thinking of sowing seeds. Too early yet for the tomatoes but I’m trying cold sowing of some seeds again. I had some success the first year but not much last year, so this time I intend being better prepared. My starting equipment is five-litre water bottles, coir, a … More It’s Bean Here Before
Having put winged beans (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) in the cold sowing bottles, I changed my mind and dug them out again. They are a warm weather bean and if they can’t grow when I follow the instructions, treating them the complete opposite would be a bigger mistake. By the time I had decided to do this, … More The Bean Turn
With many people being too busy, or not interested in gardens, the space they used to call a garden is getting covered over with some form of easy-care material. During a conversation with a friend who is about to move house, and was asking if the new house had a big garden and the reply … More Allot Of Worry
Fencing, or lack of it, has been the bane of my life in trying to keep dogs out. My garden is small and so is the little furry tornado which tries to get into the garden and run amok. Ideally I would like my garden fenced in, however I have a problem that it doesn’t … More Don’t Fence Me In
I am a sucker for whimsy in the garden, although I do like it to be a bit tasteful, and not just fill it with plastic gnomes and artificial flowers. George the dragon, in his mossy coat and blending into the background, contemplates life by the pond. He is mostly concealed under the pink geranium … More It’s Not All Nonsense
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