Remember – Don’t water peas & beans

Don’t be tempted to water peas and beans too much, even in this dry weather. You’ll end up with a plant that is all leaf and no pea (or bean) if you’re not careful. Same goes for carrots. Instead, start watering them when the pods start to form.

The Best Omelet Ever!

If, like me, you have mint plants popping up all over the place and taking over your garden then you’ll be grateful to find a recipe that uses up the mint, tastes amazing and is a cinch to make. This is the best omelet ever. Goat’s Cheese and Mint Souffled Omelet Ingredients: 4 eggs 100g […]

It’s All About Taste

Raymond Blanc over at his Manor (sorry, Le Manoir) in Oxfordshire is very picky about what he grows in his kitchen garden apparently. He’s not too bothered about how things look, all he’s interested in is the taste and texture. I suppose that’s just what chefs do but we should all be a little bit […]

The Cabbage White

Oh no, they’ve started early this year – the cabbage whites I mean. This poor little cauliflower seedling is playing host to a spongy green visitor. The first tell-tale sign was the folded over leaf. Then I saw the cotton wool like residue and after a few pokes he finally popped his head out. I […]

Official Reviewer

You know you’ve arrived when people start sending you free stuff. In the post today mtp recieved some complimentary seeds (Tomato, Courgette, Basil and Kale) courtesy of Seeds of Italy. You know Seeds of Italy – usually on revolving wire rackets in your local garden centre, very bright large packets with instructions in more languages […]

22-Spotter

This little fella, I’m reliably informed, is a 22-spot Harlequin ladybird. They’re non-preditory and ‘eat the mildews and other microscopic fungi that grow on plant tissues’. Quite rare apparently but often found wandering around in my cutting garden seedlings.

Baked Soil?

If, like me you have baked, lumpy, unworkable soil right now (too much sun and not enough rain) then you’ll love this tip. To get that lovely, crumbly tilth that all the seed packets talk about just water the patch of earth you need to work thoroughly. Let it soak in for 20 minutes and […]

Small-time Salad

I spent Good Friday rearranging the pots on my small deck and sowing a few more salad leaves mainly for growing at home or transplanting to mtp once they are big enough. As you can see the radish that I planted a few weeks ago is romping away and will be ready to harvest in […]

Eager Beaver

As we all know potatoes are supposed to go in on Good Friday (since that was the first day the working poor would get off between Christmas and Easter) but I couldn’t wait. I popped them in a few days ago when I had a sneaky day off from work. It was windy and cold […]

The Cutting Garden Takes Shape

The cutting garden is beginning to take shape. These holyhocks are doing very well. I also have some Asters (yellow and orange) and a few Cosmos seedlings. The Dahlia seedlings were mostly lost to a dry spell a few days ago – I have one left though. The other flowers in the new cutting garden […]