The TomTato®has been around for a couple of years now. I confess I dismissed it as a novelty when I first heard about it, and it may yet turn out to be – but I’ve been lucky enough to be sent a couple to trial and of course I’m going to give it a go….
Category: Product test
Taking a chance on garlic
First Day – April 25th, 2016. I always plant my maincrop garlic in late September to overwinter. I’ve been growing the same variety for years – I have no idea what it is, but I understand garlic slowly adjusts itself to the soil its in, so I always save a few bulbs for planting and the…
On Test: Pelargoniums
I’ve been sent samples of two gorgeous-looking pelargoniums from the Vernon Nursery, that specialise in all manner of geraniums. I’ve long-loved ‘Appleblossom’ – a delightful specimen plant with tiny, rosebud-style flowers in pale pink and cream, but I stopped growing them some years ago as I found the buds tended to stay half-unfurled, never actually opening…
On Test: Celery ‘Peppermint Stick’
I’ve never grown celery before. I’ve always been a bit scared of the whole blanching-thing – the trench digging, the wrapping up and filling in, just for a few sticks of something I’m not that fond of. Recently, though, I’ve started appreciating celery more – as a child I couldn’t even bear to smell it….
On Test: ‘Climbing’ Strawberries ‘Skyline’
Last year I tested – and approved of – three French strawberries. Each scored highly in the flavour stakes but for different reasons. My plot just isn’t big enough to grow lots of different strawberries, so I’m not planning any new trials of standard strawbs but I am intrigued by the concept of a new ‘climbing’…
On Test: Johnson’s Reusable Growing Tray
Mustard and cress was probably the first thing I ever grew. No one called it ‘microgreens’ then, but the principle was the same: bit of wet kitchen roll, sprinkle seed on it, wait for them to germinate, water for two days, forget it’s on the school windowsill; throw away dried bit of kitchen roll. Now they’re…
A Volcano in my Compost
Jennifer Brodie has a theory. That the obesity problem Britain – and, indeed the world – is facing is down to our bodies craving trace minerals. She believes that every time we harvest vegetables we deplete the soil, yet with traditional fertilisers we’re only putting back basic fertility – Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potassium, AKA NPK. We’re…
The Event Gardener 