Growing Tips
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Planting Out Summer Crops: Time to Fill Your Beds with Sunshine Veg
This is it. The big one. The moment you’ve been building up to since about February when you first started those seeds on the windowsill. Planting out summer crops — getting your tomatoes, courgettes, squash, beans, sweetcorn, peppers, and all that good stuff out into the beds where they belong. It’s like moving day, except…
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Protecting Crops from Pests: Organic Methods That Really Work
Pests. The bane of every gardener’s existence. You spend weeks nurturing your plants, feeding them, watering them, talking to them (don’t pretend you don’t), and then you come up one morning and something has eaten half of them overnight. It’s enough to make you want to concrete the whole lot over and take up golf.…
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Building a Wildlife Pond: A Haven for Nature in Your Garden
Right, wildlife ponds. Now this might seem like a bit of an odd one for a gardening blog — “Tony, I want to grow tomatoes, not keep fish” — but hear us out. A wildlife pond, even a tiny one, is one of the single best things you can add to any garden or allotment.…
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Sowing Root Vegetables: Carrots, Parsnips, Beetroot and Beyond
Root vegetables. Now we’re talking. Carrots, parsnips, beetroot, turnips — these are the backbone of any proper allotment. They’re what gets you through autumn and winter with proper home-grown food on the table. And there’s something dead satisfying about pulling a carrot out of the ground that you grew from a tiny little seed. It’s…
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Installing Drip Irrigation Systems: Save Time, Water, and Your Back
Alright, let’s talk about drip irrigation. Now I know what some of you are thinking — “Tony, I’ve got a watering can, what do I need drip irrigation for?” And fair enough, a watering can has served gardeners well for about five hundred years. But hear us out on this one, because setting up even…
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Planting Out Early Brassicas: Cabbages, Cauliflowers and More
Brassicas. The cabbage family. Now there’s a group of vegetables that don’t get nearly enough credit if you ask me. Everyone’s banging on about tomatoes and courgettes and all the glamorous summer stuff, but nobody’s out there making TikToks about cabbages, are they? And that’s a shame because a properly grown cabbage is a thing…
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Preparing Beds for Summer Crops: Get Your Plot Ready for the Big Season
Right then, here we go. Preparing your beds for summer crops. Now I know what you’re thinking — “Tony, it’s not even that warm yet, why am I out here with a fork?” And honestly, that’s a fair question. But here’s the thing, and I’ve learned this the hard way over the years — if…
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Starting Cucumbers and Tomatoes Indoors: Get a Head Start on Summer
Right. Cucumbers and tomatoes. The big indoor crops. Now, these are the ones that get everyone excited because let’s be honest, nothing beats a home-grown tomato. Absolutely nothing. Those watery things from the supermarket are a completely different species compared to a proper tomato you’ve grown yourself, still warm from the sun. And cucumbers —…
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Bean Supports: The Unsexy Secret to a Bumper Crop
Right then. Bean supports. I know — it’s hardly the most thrilling topic in gardening, is it? But here’s the thing: a decent support is genuinely the difference between a glorious wall of runners and French beans and a sad, tangled mess on the ground where the slugs throw a party. Get it right and…
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Planting Onion Sets and Shallots: Everything You Need for a Bumper Crop
Right. Onion sets. If you want one of the easiest, most satisfying crops you can grow, this is it. You literally push a little bulb into the soil, wait a few months, and pull out a proper onion. It’s like magic, except it’s not — it’s just how onions work. And shallots are even better…