Once upon a time, when dinosaurs were undoubtedly roaming wild in the garden, I had a previous life as a teacher. I loved working with children - and now I'm looking forward to rediscovering my creative side with my own kids (8 and 11) as we enter this rather surreal period of living, working and … Continue reading Garden Schooling: From Small Seeds…
Beautiful blackcurrants, deep rosy red fleshed apples, delicious patio tomatoes, and a ginger rosemary cocktail that will blow you away - all on offer at Hampton Court this week in the Edible Eden Garden, designed by Chris Smith of Pennard Plants... Edible Eden combines a formal vegetable area, unusual edibles in the forest garden and … Continue reading Fruity New Ideas in the Edible Eden Garden at RHS Hampton Court
Chillies are deliciously fascinating - their forms, colours and flavours tantalise the senses; their names alone are enough to make your tongue tingle in anticipation. I've been growing far more chillies over the past few years than sanity should dictate. I'm drawn in by the evocative colour and spice of names like 'Bolivian Rainbow', 'Numex … Continue reading What’s In A Name? Capsicum Annuum
A cosy window seat has to be the best place to curl up with a cup of tea and a good book. As a child, I preferred to read near the top of our tall Scots Pine, with a Famous Five and an apple from the garden. Now I favour the cushion-strewn window seat in the lounge which … Continue reading Book Review: RHS Plants From Pips and The Little Book of Hygge
Earlier this year I brought my overwintered chillies out of the spare room and sowed a range of new seeds in the hope that I would be knee-deep in chillies by the end of the summer. I've been pleased with the results of what has ended up as a collection of 39 plants with 17 different varieties. … Continue reading Chilli Harvest 2016
Ten years ago I went on the allotment waiting list. Local sites are heavily oversubscribed and I was expecting a substantial wait. Five years later, with one small child and another on the way I decided to come off the list as allotmenteering seemed unfeasible in the blur of family life. Instead we worked on … Continue reading Allotment Beginnings
To sow or not to sow? It has been a real labour of love overwintering last year's chillies in the spare room. It's the first time I've tried to grow chillies perennially and it's been mostly trial and error. First they had a bad case of fungus gnats, then greenfly. The room was filled with … Continue reading Old chillies v new chillies: how do you grow yours?