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from the garden. Large bucket, dustbin or decorative rhubarb forcerStraw (optional)November - February10 minutes harvest January - AprilClear around the base of a rhubarb crown, removing old leaves and weeds. Use a large pot, dustbin or decorative

- the long stems emerging from the main plant. Do this now and you can look forward to more plants and a bumper harvest next summer.Strawberry plantSharp knife or secateursPotsMulti-purpose compostGarden wire or u-shaped staplesSeptember - early October45

Carrots can be stored for winter use in a number of ways. On well-drained soils they can be left in the ground, protected from the cold by a thick layer of straw, bracken or soil.Carrots stored in this way can be difficult to harvest, however, so it's better to make an earth clam...

Parsnips need a really long growing season but they're well worth the wait. Sow seeds early in the year and look forward to parsnips roasted for the Christmas table, or in warming winter soups.Parsnip seeds e.g. 'Gladiator F1'Trowel or draw hoeStringMeasuring board (optional)Febr...

Growing tomatoes with ring-culture pots involves surrounding the crop with a bottomless ring and adding layers of compost at 10-14 day intervals. This encourages the tomato to root from the stem so it can take up more water and nutrients than it would get from the growing bag alo...

in the garden, on a balcony or in the greenhouse. Shake compost inside the bag to create an even, pillow shape. Cut a slot out of the bag to expose the compost for planting them into.Loosen the compost in the bag with a hand fork. Push some of the compost

Tomatoes will thrive in a greenhouse in midsummer with the right light, warmth, water and feed. But there's no point in ruining your hard work by watching the plant collapse under its own weight, when some simple staking will save the day. Nor do you want too many leaves when it'...

and there are flurries of snow whipping off the roofs, and a rather disgruntled chicken is scuffling about like a well-wrapped babushka haggling in a street market in Minsk.Gardeners are obsessed with weather. It’s often too dry, too wet, too cold, too hot, not snowy

vegetables, you will get a heavier crop if you grow leeks in a well-lit position, with soil that has been improved by the addition of plenty of organic matter. Leek seedsMulti-purpose compostPots or seed traysGarden forkStringBroom or large dibberWatering can

Carrots need space to develop fully so, once germinated, go over your rows of carrots and pick out the weakest-looking vegetable seedlings to leave a 2cm - 4cm space around remaining seedlings. If you're very careful in extracting the seedling from the row, you could try transpla...