Category: pests & diseases

Much as we chicken keepers enjoy the summer months the warmer weather is not without its problems. Possibly the biggest and most irritating, to hens and their humans, is the…

At this time of year aphids are beginning to rampage. These small, pear-shaped insects like soft new growth on trees, shrubs, perennials, climbers, fruit, annuals and veg. In other words…

At last, the sun is shining, everywhere in the UK as well as here in the north Cotswolds from where I write this blog post. I walked around d the…

Well the snow has gone, around here at least, but with closely packed isobars and a complex series of warm and cold fronts, we’re already experiencing strong winds. It’s set…

Such a wonderful time of year is September, when the fruits of our labours are increasingly apparent, and we can turn to thoughts of the months ahead. The farming year…

All week, I’ve been editing a travel magazine, which you might think has nothing to do with gardening. But it has – for so many readers love to visit gardens,…

Here in the north Cotswolds it has been remarkably warm this last week; so much so, we were able to eat lunch outside one day in our sheltered ‘Courtyard Potager’.…

Yesterday was the RSPB ‘Feed the Birds Day’ and it’s not too late to request the special information pack the organisation was offering – just click on this link to…

Scarecrows, begonias and an update on our allotment and new potager all feature in this first June posting. As the days lengthen towards mid-summer, there still does not seem to…

Gardening by the “square  metre” is a simple, easy-to-follow concept that allows you to squeeze more produce into small spaces. Basically, you sow crops closer together – a higher density…