Another one for everyone today (unless you hate onions, of course…) These versatile little veg are salad staples but are great in all manner of cuisines, and they’re really handy to jazz up plain stuff or use if you’ve run out of actual onions (which take much longer to grow). They are easy to grow…
Month: March 2020
Coronoveg: Seedlings – from babies to toddlers…
My friend Sue has asked a couple of eminently sensible questions, which are worth answering in a bit more detail. Firstly she is wondering: “When to remove the propagator lid, I have a memory of waiting till they have two leaves.” Two leaves is good – though be wary of the two leaves that first…
Coronoveg: Don’t peak too soon with the Three Sisters.
These last few days have been sunny and warm. I understand the clocks go forward on Sunday. I, for one, have been on the allotment for the past few days. But that doesn’t mean we should be sowing every seed in the back of the garden shed. Even if we don’t get actual frost yet,…
Coronoveg: Figs
Figs are different from practically all other fruit trees, and many people assume they’re no good for British gardens. This is completely untrue – last year I visited the secret fig garden in Tarring near Worthing in West Sussex which, allegedly, was planted in the middle ages. Officially it dates back to 1745, but that’s…
Grafting: The good, the bad and the very, very wrong. Part Two: Veg
In Part One, we looked at fruit grafting, where decent varieties of, say, apple are grafted onto root stocks that will keep them in check and stop them going crazy. In this part, we’ll look at the relatively recent trend for grafting vegetables, which is usually taken on for the exact opposite reasons. It’s not…
Grafting: the good, the bad and the very, very wrong. Part One: Fruit trees.
Today I want to look at the weird and wonderful world of grafting. It’s been with us for a couple of centuries, but recently modern technology has taken it into a whole other world. In this post I’ll look at fruit trees; the next one will explore the slightly murkier world of vegetable grafting. Some…
Coronoveg Project: Let there be light: A reflector for seedlings
Lucky are they who have a greenhouse or anywhere in the house that’s bright, especially this time of year when seedlings are teeny-tiny. The only space I have for seedlings is my kitchen window which faces north-east, just about the worst possible angle for light. You can buy special plant-lights but they’re stupidly expensive and…
Coronoveg #2: Tomatoes
There’s still just about time to start tomatoes. I begin mine in January but there should be enough time to catch up if you get your horticultural skates on. In fact I have just sown some Tumbling Tom, in solidarity. Tomatoes can be grown anywhere there is going to be lots of sunshine and heat,…
Coronoveg: Fruit
Fruit is great to grow, not least because after the initial faff and outlay there’s virtually nothing to do except harvest and enjoy. I’ll go through each of these in turn in separate posts, but here’s a taster; something to get thinking about. The very best way to buy fruit trees is bare-root, which is…
Coronoveg Project: The Cheat’s Instant Herb Garden
So, as the first in a new occasional series suggested by my friend Liz, today I present our first Coronoveg project: DIY growing herbs that actually grow. Ever wondered why those potted herbs you buy in the supermarket never seem to last long? It’s easy really – they’re grown so intensively, so crowded and in…
Coronoveg Shopping List Part Two: Seeds
So, continuing the request for a shopping list, this is really as broad as it’s long. It depends on the space you have, so I’ll break it down into sections. I like to order online as you get the best choice but there are one or two that are getting close to their sow-by date…
Coronoveg Shopping List Part One: Kit
I’ve had a request for a shopping list so today, let’s look at basics. This is Part One: Equipment. Part two: Seeds will come later today. Growing medium Let’s assume we’re not going in for all that hydroponic stuff where plants are grown in water only. It’s fancy and it works but I don’t really…
The Event Gardener 