As your garden greenery makes that summer shift from abundant to unruly, make the problem the solution with an on-the-spot mulch. I’d had enough. After time away (planned and unplanned), a first heatwave that forced plants to grow like billy-o, being poorly – vertigo and spring-into-summer gardening do not mix – and then a second […]
It’s berry season here in Rhode Island. The raspberries, blueberries, red and white currants are all ripe and ready to be picked. Strawberries have almost finished. In a few weeks blackberries will also be available. These berry plants produce several pounds of fruit each season, most of which goes into the freezer for pies, smoothies […]
Movie buffdom is not my realm; I watch, am entertained (or not), but a week later couldn’t relate the plot if you paid me. With one exception: the closing scene of ‘The Godfather’. The entire movie is iconic, I get it, but that final scene gripped me because of the size of the tomato plants […]
What’s lurking among the plants in your greenhouse? Jean Vernon explores the mini-beasts that may call your greenhouse home. Our greenhouses are often isolated from the rest of the garden and removed from the natural balance. That said, we know there are all sorts of creatures that find their way into the protected climes inside […]
They say the sixties are now the forties these days, when it comes to age, because many ‘oldies’ are keeping healthy and active for far longer. I count myself as an oldie, very much so, but I hardly ever stop because I have a garden and an allotment to contend with. This year it’s been […]
In my greenhouse this month, the aubergines have finally stopped sulking. For weeks after planting out they sat there looking faintly offended by the whole business, and then, almost overnight, the way these things do, they put on a growth spurt, their leaves gone glossy and purple-veined, the first flowers unfurling like small, star-shaped promises, […]
You might be thought mad to grow peas in your greenhouse, it’s often too hot and dry. Which is odd as most of our peas originated in Egypt before Biblical times. Indeed many are not hardy and could benefit being under cover during the colder part of the year. Just there’s the usual handicap of […]
