March on the Allotment Garden
By Richard Chivers For gardeners, the arrival of March arouses a sensation others savour only at Christmas. Winter is always a long season for us allotmenteers. Dark, cold and when…
By Richard Chivers For gardeners, the arrival of March arouses a sensation others savour only at Christmas. Winter is always a long season for us allotmenteers. Dark, cold and when…
By Richard Chivers February can be a tricky month for an allotment gardener. It’s a month that teases us a little. In meteorological terms it’s the final full month of…
The native primrose (primula vulgaris) is the prima flower or “first rose” of the year. Even though it is clearly not a rose! This heralds of spring is traditionally pale…
By Richard Chivers When Christmas has passed and life resumes its normality, the biggest problem I find as a gardener is that January is a frustratingly long month. When I…
Planting autumn garlic from October to January will provide you with a crop from May to July next year. A member of the onion family, garlic is a staple of…
As any gardener will tell you, the compost heap is the beating heart of a garden. The cherished ‘black gold’ is essential for the health of your garden and plants;…
The appearance of early spring flowers is when many of us breathe a sigh of relief. The dark days of winter are nearly over. Be they dancing daffodils, pure snowdrops…
Much of what we grow is best eaten fresh. Often, cherry tomatoes or sugar snap peas don’t even make it as far as the kitchen, and ripe sweetcorn cobs go…
On the subject of potatoes, one of the questions we are most frequently asked is whether chitting is necessary. Our response is that first early and second early varieties should…
Keeping our vegetable gardens or allotments alive and thriving during the worst that summer can throw at it can feel like a battle. With UK temperatures hitting record highs during…