Search - Articles

.I love the way home-grown salads start off as a meagre collection of leaves in spring, then steadily grow as tomatoes, broad beans and other ingredients are ready to harvest. The watercress growing in my pond is always the first leaf crop I pick, followed

the dead bits of rosemary and hope it pulls through.In the meantime, my annual herbs (basil, coriander and flat-leaf parsley) are coming on well. These I grow in grow bags with the tomatoes, along with more chives (which I once read can help improve

I've just thrown a 'plant party', as part of 'Grow Your Own' Week. This involved my friends coming to my flat and learning how to sow tomatoes and chillies. We also discussed pricking out, transplanting, feeding and watering. It reminded me of my

Last year I sowed all my seeds in the first week of January, eager to get my brand new garden off to a flying start. Everything was sown at once - from Eryngium leavenworthii to tomato 'Gardener's Delight' and my front room looked like a badly run

tomatoes now feel icy to the touch when picked, but the plants are soldiering on. In previous years I have laid down my remaining outdoor tomato plants on a bed of straw, and covered them with a long cloche or a few layers of fleece. I like to ensure

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...

flowering, to ensure they have enough energy to grow the chillies, tomatoes or beans we're growing them for. This is especially pertinent when growing them in containers, as there is only a finite amount of nutrients in the compost. Once this is used up

for eating in salads, some for using in sauces and some for roasting. My aubergines will be so plentiful, I won’t need to buy any again (no matter how many aubergine parmigianas I make). I’ll grow enough garlic to hang in plaits around my kitchen and my

Things really move up a gear in May when you're growing your own. With a greenhouse bulging at the seams, I can't wait for the risk of frosty nights to pass so I can plant them outside.Tomatoes, courgettes, sweetcorn and other tender crops

, never a fan of vegetables, chose Tomato 'Ailsa Craig' as "unbeaten for flavour, perfect for growing in an unheated greenhouse".The list goes on, and with 100 tempting crops my seed and plant order has now grown to such an extent that I'm going to need