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be fascinating to monitor how long the soil could be left without affecting yields of crops such as tomatoes.Meanwhile, I think I’ll just replace the top 20cm (8in), which will hopefully be sufficient for the tomatoes I'm about to plant...

I'm passionate about growing garlic. I successfully grow lots of garlic at home, despite the fact that I garden on a very heavy, clay soil.Garlic thrives in a well-balanced soil that is fairly loose, so the bulbs can expand properly. It does less

I couldn't be happier. The sun is shining and it almost feels as if spring is here.  Just last week there was standing water in the bottom few feet of one of my plots; the soil was completely submerged and saturated. Conditions were so wet

at the weekend, it was plain to see that the local slugs were showing no signs of slowing down. I uncovered several large clumps of their eggs; clear or slightly off-white spheres, each about 1-2mm in diameter (pictured, above). I gathered the eggs up in a pot

germinated.I've recently installed some raised beds, which should make growing root crops easier. I'm also growing parsnips and carrots in woven polythene planters. Filled with a mixture of some sandy imported soil, a bit of the native soil and a little well

Once again it poured with rain at the weekend, so my heavy clay soil was too wet to be worked. Instead, I made for the greenhouse, to do a spot of cleaning.I spent a thoroughly productive couple of hours, jet washing the glass inside and out

that I use would have been much help.)So, I planted them later than usual, and then, last week, they were suddenly subjected to a heat wave! To compensate for this dramatic change in weather I drenched the soil around the plants' roots as often

, they're certainly easier to peel than grapes).But don't despair if your beans have matured more than you would have wanted. Just cook, peel and mash the beans into a tasty puree.Broad beans are a simple crop to grow, but you do need quite a long row

garden is tiny and my soil shallow, so I'm growing dwarf French beans and spinach in pots.As well as being small, with shallow soil, my garden is shady, but it gets two hours of strong sun in the afternoon, which I hope will be enough for French beans

with either a piece of old carpet, some cardboard or some black polythene. Then plant the tubers, re-covering the soil with fleece or a mini-tunnel to keep them warm. The advantages of growing spuds early is that you miss the blight fungus that kills off so