gardening
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Installing Row Covers: Simple Protection That Makes a Big Difference
Row covers. Now this is one of those things that sounds boring but is actually incredibly useful. A row cover is basically just a layer of protective material — fleece, mesh, or plastic — placed over your crops to protect them from frost, pests, wind, or all three at once. Think of it like tucking…
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Preparing for Autumn Harvests: Make the Most of the Late Season
Autumn harvests. This is the big reward, people. The grand finale. Everything you’ve planted, tended, watered, worried about, and sworn at over the spring and summer — it all comes together in autumn. This is peak harvest season. The allotment is absolutely groaning with food and you can barely keep up with it. Tomatoes ripening…
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Building a Compost Bin: A Simple Weekend Project
Every allotment needs a compost bin. Every garden needs one too, for that matter. It’s basically a recycling centre for your garden waste, turning what would otherwise go in the green bin into beautiful, rich, dark compost that your plants absolutely love. It’s free fertiliser. FREE. And if there’s one thing I love more than…
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Planning a Winter Veg Garden: Fresh Food All Year Round
Planning a winter veg garden. Now this is where the clever gardeners separate themselves from the rest of us. And I say “us” because for years I was firmly in the “close the allotment gate in October and don’t go back until March” camp. The growing season was over, the beds were empty, and that…
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Saving Seeds from Summer Crops: Free Plants for Next Year
Free plants. That’s what seed saving is. Free plants for next year. And the year after that. And the year after that. Once you start saving your own seeds, you’ll wonder why you ever spent money on packets from the garden centre. Well, okay, you’ll still buy some packets because there’s always something new and…
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Planting Winter Brassicas: Kale, Sprouts and Winter Cabbage
Winter brassicas. Now we’re getting into the serious stuff. The stuff that separates the casual summer gardeners from the proper year-round growers. Because anyone can grow a courgette in July — the conditions are perfect and the plant basically grows itself. But growing kale, Brussels sprouts, and winter cabbage that’ll feed you through December, January,…
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Harvesting and Storing Garlic: From Plot to Pantry
Garlic. Is there anything better? I put garlic in literally everything. Pasta, stir-fries, roasts, soups, bread — if it’s savoury, it’s getting garlic. And growing your own garlic is one of the most satisfying things you can do on an allotment because it’s dead easy, it stores for months, and home-grown garlic is about ten…
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Building a Cold Frame for Autumn: Extend Your Growing Season with Ease
A cold frame. Now this is one of those things that sounds fancy and complicated but is actually one of the simplest and most useful structures you can build for your garden. It’s basically a box with a transparent lid. That’s it. And yet this incredibly simple contraption can extend your growing season by weeks…
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Preparing for Autumn Planting: Think Ahead for a Productive Late Season
Right, autumn planting. Now I know it feels wrong to be thinking about autumn when summer’s still in full swing and you’ve got courgettes coming out of your ears. But here’s the thing — the best autumn and winter gardens are planned and planted in summer. If you wait until September to start thinking about…
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Managing Weeds in Your Allotment: Keep On Top Without Losing Your Mind
Weeds. The one constant in gardening. Death, taxes, and weeds. No matter what you do, no matter how clean your beds are, no matter how many hours you spend on your knees pulling the little blighters out — they always come back. It’s like fighting a war you can’t win. But you can manage it.…