Somehow, it is the middle of the month already, so I thought it was time to share a January update from the homestead. Although we’re barely more than two weeks into 2026, a lot has been happening here. Snow, new garden plans, first seeds and ….

My New Book

The Productive Garden: An essential guide towards self-sufficiency will be published internationally in March 2026 and pre-orders are open.

Pre-orders for the UK are here
Pre-orders for the US are here
Pre-order signed copies from me here

Pre-orders are much more of a “thing” now than they were when my previous books were published. The pre-order stats can significantly help the success of a book, because they are used by online and high street stores to decide whether to stock the publication. Have you ever wondered how books get on best seller lists? Pre-orders are one way they accomplish this.

Thank you to everyone who has pre-ordered. Your support is really appreciated.

Other ways of supporting the publication of the new book include asking your local library to order it in – you’ll be able to read it for free.

Also, sharing my social media posts about the book is a free way to help, so more people can hear about it.

Garden Update

We’ve had some fabulous winter weather, including snow that meant we were cut off for three days as the lane was too icy to drive on safely. This is great for the garden. Proper cold wintry weather after what was a really far too mild autumn and early winter.

Last week I sowed the first seeds of the year in the greenhouse, where I have heat mats and grow lights: aubergines (22 varieties!), chillies, sweet peppers, one kind of tomato, onions and shallots. The onions and shallots will grow on off the heat on polytunnel benches until it’s time to plant out, but everything else will need to be kept war, and light until after the last frosts (usually May here).

I’ve sown just one variety of tomato so far: House tomato from Real Seeds. This is a small bush tomato that is ideal for growing on windowsills. As well as growing indoors here, I’ll be giving plants to my daughter in London and son in Scotland. It is far too early for sowing the rest of the tomatoes. I have two polytunnels and a green house, but even all of that is not enough warm, frost free, undercover space for tomatoes to thrive until May. Tomatoes grow much faster than aubergines, chillies and sweet peppers, which is why I sow those in January. I’ll be sowing tomatoes in March.

Garden plans

Key jobs for this winter include pruning all of the apple and pear trees here. They really need it! This will increase airflow and help keep the trees healthier. I also need to reduce the height of some, as they are now starting to shade the bigger polytunnel too much.

There’s a lot of clearing too, including cutting back and digging out brambles which are on a take over mission in parts of the garden. Brambles are useful, but we already have so many in this rural area that I don’t need to grow them here too. Clearing brambles is definitely a digging job!

I’m making new beds too. There are some in the orchard which are being made with card and compost/other natural materials. I’m also making at least four new raised beds in the area where I park my car. These need to be raised due to the location.

Also, I’m changing the layout of the back garden beds from vertical to horizontal. This will work better with the flow of water during the very heavy rains we get here in Ceredigion. Plus all the usual maintenance – cleaning polytunnel plastic, cleaning out gutters, etc.

Food Forest Garden

A big project for 2026 is transforming the area under the apple trees in the orchard, between the two polytunnels, into a productive food forest garden. I’ll be starting this after all of the winter pruning has been completed. This is not going to be one of those instant makeovers. It’s going to take time – not least because my budget for this project is £0. I’ll be sharing more about this as the project develops.

(I do have a budget for the rest of the garden, for seeds and suchlike – just not this new project!)

A busy time

I am busy working on the promotion for The Productive Garden, on my social media, via printed and online media, podcasts, radio etc. My publisher Frances Lincoln (part of the Quarto group) have given me fantastic support with PR in the UK and US but there’s also so much that we authors have to do too.

I am working out a healthy balance between promoting the book and still sharing gardening and homesteading tips!

Website Update

During 2025, I have been working on updating the website with the help of Paul Gadd, who has been very patient! There have been loads of delays caused by me having to focus on book edits and other work that was a higher priority work-wise.

All being well, the new homepage and content layouts will be live over the next few days. The actual content will remain the same, it’ll just all be in an easier to navigate format.

Gardening and Homesteading Courses

I’ve put up the first gardening and homesteading course dates for 2026 here. This year, these will be starting in May (usually they commence in March) due to other commitments. So as well as learning about growing sustainably and soil health, they’ll be ideal for planning year round growing, including making sure that you have delicious food crops growing throughout the winter and into spring 2027.

New for 2026, there are also online Masterclasses. The first are fully booked, and I will be putting up more dates next week.

Talks and events

I’m giving talks across the UK in 2026, including at Trinity College Oxford on May 26th, and Llandovery Literature Festival on May 9th.

Here in Wales, the first No Dig talks of the year are at Llanfair Village Hall on February 27th and at Boncath Llechryd Garden Club on March 11th.

To discuss booking me for your group or event, please contact me.