allotment/autumn/back garden/blog/Bruton/featured/gardening/homesteading/nature/no dig gardening/No Dig Organic Home and Garden/no hungry gap/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/recipes/seasonal cooking/spring/summer/The Creative Kitchen/winter

Kale – Root to Shoot: leaves, flowers, sprouts and more!

Stephanie Hafferty 4 Comments

Kale, a nutrient dense vegetable high in vitamins, is well known for its many health benefits. Easy to grow and winter hardy in the UK, it’s a fantastic plant for the hungry home gardener. Kale’s delicious leaves make a tasty addition to all kinds of meals cooked and raw, but did you know that you can also eat other parts of this cruciferous vegetable and that growing it benefits wildlife too?!

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autumn/back garden/blog/Bruton/exploring/featured/front garden/gardening/Homeacres/homesteading/kitchen garden/mulching/nature/no dig gardening/No Dig Home/No Dig Organic Home and Garden/no hungry gap/one/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/potions/preparing the soil/preserving/propagation/The Creative Kitchen/winter

On this harvest moon…

Stephanie Hafferty 6 Comments

This week began with the Autumn Equinox, the festival of Mabon, which starts on September 21st

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allotment/blog/Bruton/featured/front garden/gardening/Homeacres/nature/no dig gardening/No Dig Home/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/winter

Walking in a winter wonderland … in March… again!

Stephanie Hafferty 12 Comments

Every Monday I pour my morning coffee and plan my week. Last week was so busy with talks, writing, a course day on Saturday; there was little time for gardening at home, so I scheduled Sunday as a whole day of gardening at home.

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blog/featured/homesteading/kitchen garden/no dig gardening/No Dig Home/no hungry gap/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/propagation/spring/winter

How to prick out seedlings (and other February gardening)

Stephanie Hafferty 2 Comments

It feels strange to be writing about heat loving plants like aubergines as Britain is gripped by unseasonally cold weather. Kitchen gardening is about always thinking ahead, anticipating and planning for what is to come, so I have been happy thinking about warm summer days as I wrap myself up in layers of thermals and woollens!

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blog/featured/gardening/homesteading/no dig gardening/No Dig Home/No Dig Organic Home and Garden/no hungry gap/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/propagation/winter

Sowing aubergines, chillies and sweet peppers for summer and autumn harvests

Stephanie Hafferty 11 Comments

I absolutely love growing aubergines. Incredibly versatile for so many different recipes, I love all of the different colours and shapes, how some are seriously spiky and of course the delicious taste.

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blog/exploring/winter

No Dig On Tour!

Stephanie Hafferty 18 Comments

I’ve been working away for a week or so on Charles’ speaking tour. We had a fantastic time meeting keen gardeners across northern England and parts of Scotland, sharing ideas and enthusiasm for no dig methods. Some people were local to the talks, others had driven for several hours to hear Charles speak. It was wonderful exploring some spectacular locations and beautiful wild countryside. 

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We had cardboard, we had compost, wheelbarrows and manure forks - all we needed to make a new no dig bed on weedy grass!
back garden/blog/Bruton/featured/front garden/Homeacres/homesteading/making a no dig bed/mulching/no dig gardening/No Dig Home/No Dig Organic Home and Garden/organic/permaculture/preparing the soil/winter

Making a no dig bed on frozen grassy ground

Stephanie Hafferty 7 Comments

In the bleak mid-winter, frost made the earth stand hard as iron, water like a stone. No problem for no dig gardeners – Charles and I decided to make another bed at Homeacres!

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allotment/autumn/back garden/blog/featured/front garden/gardening/homesteading/kitchen garden/nature/no dig gardening/No Dig Home/no hungry gap/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/winter

(Almost!) last plantings of the year

Stephanie Hafferty 2 Comments
This is the eighth in my series of blog posts, explaining how to grow vegetables and herbs which can be sown now to see you through the winter and spring – no hungry gap in 2018!
I have added the category No Hungry Gap, so you can find all of the blogs easily using the search facility.

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back garden/blog/featured/gardening/homesteading/kitchen garden/mulching/no dig gardening/no hungry gap/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/preparing the soil/winter

Time to plant

Stephanie Hafferty 6 Comments

This is the sixth in my series of blog posts, explaining how to grow vegetables and herbs which can be sown now to see you through the winter and spring – no hungry gap in 2018!
I have added the category No Hungry Gap, so you can find all of the blogs easily using the search facility.

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autumn/back garden/blog/homesteading/no dig gardening/no hungry gap/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/preparing the soil/winter

Clearing the polytunnel for new plantings

Stephanie Hafferty 2 Comments

This is the fifth in my series of blogs, explaining how to grow vegetables and herbs which can be sown now to see you through the winter and spring – no hungry gap in 2018!
I have added the category No Hungry Gap, so you can find all of the blogs easily using the search facility.

Read More “Clearing the polytunnel for new plantings”
autumn/back garden/blog/front garden/gardening/homesteading/kitchen garden/no dig gardening/No Dig Organic Home and Garden/no hungry gap/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/preparing the soil/preserving/winter

Planning the next stages for an abundant polytunnel

Stephanie Hafferty 8 Comments

This is the fourth in my series of blog posts, explaining how to grow vegetables and herbs which can be sown now to see you through the winter and spring – no hungry gap in 2018!
I have added the category No Hungry Gap, so you can find all of the blogs easily using the search facility.

Read More “Planning the next stages for an abundant polytunnel”
autumn/blog/featured/kitchen garden/no dig gardening/No Dig Home/No Dig Organic Home and Garden/no hungry gap/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/preparing the soil/spring/winter

Sow now! for winter and spring harvests

Stephanie Hafferty 8 Comments
This is the second part of my series of blog posts, explaining how to grow vegetables and herbs which can be sown now to see you through the winter and spring – no hungry gap in 2018! 
I have added the category No Hungry Gap, so you can find them easily using the search facility.

Read More “Sow now! for winter and spring harvests”
autumn/back garden/blog/Bruton/gardening/homesteading/kitchen garden/no dig gardening/No Dig Home/No Dig Organic Home and Garden/no hungry gap/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/preparing the soil/spring/winter

Growing for winter harvests: what to sow and when!

Stephanie Hafferty 12 Comments

Now is the time to start planning and sowing for late autumn, winter and spring harvests, no hungry gap in 2018! Over the next few weeks I will be sharing my sowing, planting, soil preparation and other seasonal plans for growing under cover and outside.

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back garden/blog/Bruton/gardening/homesteading/kitchen garden/nature/no dig gardening/No Dig Home/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/spring/winter

Polytunnel polyculture & spring flowers

Stephanie Hafferty 5 Comments

A quick photo blog – I just wanted to share some spring pictures from my back garden!

Most of the plants in the no dig polytunnel were planted last October into beds which were mulched in May, just as the tomatoes and other summer plants were going in here: no other fertilisers were added, one annual spring mulch feeds the crops year round. The polytunnel has 1/3 mesh and 2/3 polythene doors, which ensures good ventilation and gaps above the doors are large enough for small birds and insects to enter. During the winter I recorded temperatures lower than -4°C in here so everything freezes, however the cover keeps the weather – wind, hail, driving rain – off the plants which makes a huge difference for extending the growing season and feeding my family.

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allotment/back garden/blog/front garden/gardening/homesteading/kitchen garden/mulching/no dig gardening/No Dig Home/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/preparing the soil/winter

Winter no dig gardening

Stephanie Hafferty 3 Comments

We have had some hard frosts here in Bruton, with temperatures falling well below zero (that’s cold for for Somerset, I appreciate that elsewhere it would be considered rather mild weather!) Although not frost free, the polytunnel offers a lot of protection from the winter weather, in particular icy winds and rain, enabling me to grow a far wider range of food year round.

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