January might seem a funny time to be writing about ladybirds, but the gardeners’ best friends are very much alive and well in a garden and greenhouse near you, right now. On the odd sunny day that entices you out into the garden, you won’t be far from a ladybug, a small red beetle with […]
Look around at this time of year and you’d be forgiven for believing the world has gone mad. Adverts on the television extolling expensive high tech cameras, diamond clad watches and perfumes named after ‘celebrities’ I’ve never even heard of. Either I’m getting old fast, and maybe I am, or the essence of Christmas has […]
There’s something magical about the cold stark winter light inside the greenhouse. It’s lit up with a skeletal beauty that shines and glows whenever the sun shines. The recent mild weather and winter sun has been enhanced by the greenhouse glass and inside it has really pushed they spring flowering bulbs into growth. The greenhouse […]
Many moons ago I wrote a dissertation on crop plants for the future, sadly it was pre computers and I doubt wethter I could lay my hands on a copy of it now. It was back in the days when the quest to save the world’s food crisis was all about feeding the starving rather […]
In these days of credit crisis, what we grow to eat in our gardens and greenhouses plays a more and more important role in our lives. These days it’s not a lifestyle choice to grow your own, but a moral obligation and for many a commonsense solution to making ends meet. Greenhouse space is often […]
When you grow your own fruit, vegetables and greenhouse crops you fully understand the time and effort that is invested into every mouthful. The Grow Your Own fanatic is not going to waste a morsel; every tomato, bean and cucumber will be devoured with relish, or simply pickled, jammed or chutneyed, or just eaten fresh […]
A few days of sunshine and the greenhouse becomes a real summer hot house, just perfect for all your sun loving plants. And that’s of course why we have a greenhouse, to harness the energy of the sun and use it to boost plant growth and improve conditions for our hothouse flowers. While ventilation is […]
The unpredictability of the British summer has made me look at the greenhouse with fresh new eyes. First and foremost of course, it’s a protective space to grow, a place to sow and grow seedlings early and late in the season, extending the growing season so it joins at both ends. But it is also […]
Is it just me or do plant labels exist in a parallel universe? When you need some they are no where to be found, and yet they appear around the garden, like fallen tombstones seasoning the compost bin, the flower beds and the paths with a fine smattering of bright white plastic. Of course like […]
It’s been a really really tough time for all insects, good and bad. This long cold winter has bee especially bad for the bees, not just honeybees and bumble bees but the solitary bees too. Imagine enduring the long cold winter to be confronted by the coldest March for decades and then finding little in […]
I’ve always been a bit of a fan of weird and wonderful food plants. I love to forage in the woodland and hedgerows for ingredients to transform our diet and am fascinated by the food plants still used by native civilisations. Quinoa, amaranth, maize, potatoes, tomatoes, chillies and many more valuable crops were brought to […]
Most greenhouses are used to grow fruit, but usually it’s tomatoes. I can’t think of many greenhouse growers that don’t have a few tomato plants growing and fruiting over the summer months, but that’s not really the fruit that I mean. I’m talking about the fruit that you eat with ice cream, custard or cream […]
