with “Gardening”
I can remember feeling a bit embarrassed when I first got into gardening. You’d be forgiven from the reaction I got from some friends for thinking I’d decided to become a stamp collector, yodeller or Tory MP…
Yet, knowing you can grow at least some of your own food just by sticking a seed in some soil is one of the most empowering and life-affirming experiences out there. It’s also an incredibly easy, cheap (and fun) thing to do when you garden the badly behaved way…
A few years back (and inspired by the community growing initiative in Todmorden), Sahira Ward decided to approach her local council to see what could be done along these lines in her area. Since then, working with friends, family and neighbours, she has gone on to transform a plot of former waste ground at the top of her road into …
So it’s almost May but looking outside you wouldn’t know it. This week we’ve had snow, hail and a severe chill that has made the prospect of summer seem all that much further away. Yes it’s annoying but rather than getting down in the dumps about it all I suggest embracing the cold with a lovely hearty meal. We …
I’m all for growing pretty much everything from seed, or taking cuttings wherever i can but sometimes i’ll slip a cheeky cheat or two into the gardening mix. Now is actually a great time to undertake some growing adventures with leftover materials from your weekly food shop. Of course conventional advice often dictates that this produce cannot and should not …
Intrepid trainee gardener Luke Keeno writes for us about his rather exciting (and equally slightly terrifying) project to create a beautiful flowerbed for Bristol Victoria Park this year. Do you ever find yourself in a situation where you ask yourself “Oh my god, what have I agreed to do? I’ll never be able to do that, I’m in way …
We (at the Guild of Ocabreeders) are a group of scientists, farmers and gardeners working together on a plant breeding project designed to increase food security. The original idea for the project came from Dr. Owen Glyn Smith; better known as Rhizowen. His blog Radix has been a focus for a lot of people working with new and unusual roots …
I’ve already looked at the easiest contenders in part 1 and how to save seed from the likes of pea, tomato, pepper, lettuce and bean but what about other edibles? I remember when I first got into seed saving for my Guardian gardening blog a few years back, the funny reaction I got from some when I mentioned I was …
Why not consider saving some of your own this growing season? There’s nothing new about seed saving. It used to be an integral part of the gardening calendar as local varieties would be lovingly saved and passed through generations of families and communities. So whilst it’s undoubtedly very convenient in the cold (or rain) of winter to be huddled inside, …
The humble pallet; what a brilliant, versatile and (perhaps best of all), free material. Of course they can also be used in a myriad of ways in the home but today I want to look at some of the easiest methods for their use in and around your garden or allotment. First off, getting hold of them It’s really easy …
As I scraped my sorry arse out of bed this morning, reluctantly because it was pitch black outside, I can’t say I felt exactly enthused about the time of year. I felt more like cursing. Then as the daylight broke (finally) and the outside became illuminated in a misty, almost magical morning light, I started to feel a bit more …
It’s a classic saying among gardeners with a bit of a wilder edge that ‘weeds are just plants in the wrong place’; and I try and accommodate any plucky intruders as much as I can. Overlooking their pushy ways if I think they bring something to the garden, and some of them do, especially the flowers. But not all weeds …