by Stephanie Hafferty | Sep 27, 2018 | Autumn, Blog, Gardening, Homesteading, Kitchen garden, Mulching, No Dig Gardening, No Dig Home, No Dig Organic Home and Garden, No Hungry Gap, Organic, Permaculture, Polytunnel, potions, Preparing The Soil, Preserving, The Creative Kitchen, Winter
This week began with the Autumn Equinox, the festival of Mabon, which starts on September 21st although the actual time of the equinox was Sunday 23rd at around 2am (in the UK). Day and night are of equal length once more, before the nights get longer and the days...
by Stephanie Hafferty | Sep 14, 2018 | Autumn, Blog, Gardening, Homesteading, Kitchen garden, No Dig Gardening, No Dig Home, No Hungry Gap, Organic, Permaculture, Polytunnel, Recipes, Seasonal Cooking, Summer, The Creative Kitchen
As summer mellows into autumn, the allotment and garden is full of ripening vegetables and fruit. Mornings are much colder now, it’s something of a shock after our much hotter than usual summer: we started picking salad at Homeacres this morning at 6:30 (the day...
by Stephanie Hafferty | Aug 5, 2018 | Allotment, Blog, Gardening, Homesteading, Kitchen garden, No Dig Gardening, Organic, Permaculture, Polytunnel, Summer
The best laid plans do not always come to fruition! Gardening is a great leveller. Whether you are growing on an allotment, in a window box  or own a huge private estate, nature always has the upper hand – and that is exactly as it should be. I’m a professional...
by Stephanie Hafferty | Jul 26, 2018 | Allotment, Blog, No Dig Home, Organic, Permaculture, Polytunnel, Summer
Like much of the country, Bruton has been very hot and dry for weeks and weeks. Frustratingly all of the recent rains have missed my small town.We can see dark clouds sometimes but they are benefitting others, we’re just getting a very light shower if anything at all....
by Stephanie Hafferty | May 24, 2018 | Allotment, Blog, Gardening, Homesteading, Kitchen garden, Mulching, No Dig Gardening, No Dig Home, No Hungry Gap, Organic, Permaculture, Polytunnel, Preparing The Soil, Recipes, Seasonal Cooking
May is always a busy month for gardeners and it feels even more so this year here – is that the same for you? After such a long, slow cool spring, all at once the sun has remembered to shine, the temperatures have soared and everything is putting on fantastic...
by Stephanie Hafferty | Apr 15, 2018 | Allotment, Blog, Gardening, Homesteading, Kitchen garden, Mulching, No Dig Gardening, No Dig Home, No Dig Organic Home and Garden, No Hungry Gap, Organic, Permaculture, Polytunnel, Preparing The Soil, Seasonal Cooking, Spring
Every year I mulch my no dig allotment with an inch or two of composted manure or homemade compost, but this year I am trying something different! This was my allotment in the winter of 2017, Charles and I mulching with some beautiful local manure. The load cost me...