Growing Our Food

[...] mix them up with your soil. According to my planting calendar, April is a good month to plant broad beans/fava beans. This is my second batch of beans, with the first batch planted last month (see pic [...]

[...] , beetroot, spinach, swiss chard (red and green varieties), kale, rape, salad greens, beans (broad beans, green beans and bush beans) being harvested or almost ready for harvest. Seedlings for [...]

[...] , though I've never measured the pH to make sure it has the recommended 5.5 -6.5 pH. The planting process: I tend to plant my seedlings directly into the soil. That works for me because of my [...]

[...] fertile and well-drained, though I've had seeds grow is some pretty inhospitable places. The planting process: You can sow the seeds directly into the soil in Spring once the soil is warm, or you can [...]

[...] like it, though its flowers attract butterflies. So I can propagate and then ignore it. The planting process: Press the seeds into the soil at six inch intervals, then water the bed. They will [...]

[...] and threw food wastes in there. Plastic and paper products we burnt every week or so. The planting process: Like potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes are grown with tubers. You just put them around 10-15cm [...]

[...] amount of space. But I still want to make a success of the other options in the future. Soil Preparation: I've tried to grow potatoes numerous times, with little success and I've come to realise [...]

[...] trees around the property. That keeps it mostly in the shade, but it doesn't seem to mind. Soil preparation: I read that kale doesn't like too rich soil, but that's not a problem for me, as it has to [...]

[...] much support, so they are happy to go anywhere as long as there is good drainage and sun. Soil preparation: My soil is clay, with a good dose of manure and a bit of compost and mulch. Planting [...]

[...] vines that I want to get just for their ground cover and cascading window box potential. Soil preparation: I planted my sweet potatoes outside the main vegetable garden. The soil initially had a [...]

[...] successfully grow tomatoes again. I'll give you the basics of what I've been doing so far: Site selection: The plants are in the main garden, but I haven't been planting them in beds that were [...]

[...] activity. I hope to reach that target by the summer of 2018. Growing Jerusalem artichokes Site selection: Site selection is critical when it comes to growing Jerusalem artichokes. Any tubers you [...]

[...] I found kale to be more resilient and less prone to damage from pests and diseases. Site selection: My biggest challenge was making sure that the crop is sufficiently cool and in [...]

[...] most of my winter pea crop in March, but I also added a late batch in April. Just for extra. Site selection: Peas like a sunny spot where it is also protected from winds. In autumn and winter, I [...]

[...] into chunks 50g/2oz  arugula, stalks removed A dash of salt A dash of freshly ground black pepper 3-4 tbsp good quality extra virgin oil Put the tomatoes on a salad bowl and toss with salt and [...]

[...] to wrap the mix where they were small, put them in a baking dish, sprinkled a bit of salt, black pepper and some olive oil, covered with a foil and put in a 150 degrees Celcius (302 F) oven for 30 [...]

[...] because the flesh is really tasty, especially when steamed and seasoned with a bit of salt, black pepper and margarine/butter/olive oil. I personally feel that beans get a bad rep. For some people, [...]

[...] /ginger/herbs mix, put it in a roast dish with a bunch of fresh vegetables, sprinkle some black pepper on them, cover the dish with foil and put it in the oven to slow roast for a long time while I [...]

[...] I've planted the dill to share the bed with my lettuce. The soil is red clay mixed with  cow manure and compost.  The clay is still hard (not softened as much as I'd like), so we'll see how [...]

[...] in well-drained soil that holds water well. My soil is mostly red clay, generally fed  cow manure and home-made compost and they seem to do well enough with that. The  Planting Process:& [...]

[...] . The  soil in my garden, which is red clay, was previously fed with homemade compost and cow manure. Online research says you should lime your soil if it's acidic. This is to prevent clubroot [...]

[...] rule with my tomato crop, but that's the subject for another post). I compost my clay soil with cow manure very thoroughly weeks before I plant eggplant, though I've never measured the pH to make sure [...]

[...] . Put a layer of mulch on top to help the area keep its moisture. Caring for the garlic seedlings: Make sure that the bed is weed free and watered regularly. As with any bulb, garlic [...]