No dig gardening, Small Scale Homesteading and other talks and workshops booked so far this year.
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Kale – Root to Shoot: leaves, flowers, sprouts and more!
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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How to sow no dig parsnips, carrots and other root veg
It’s spring and I am thinking of winter vegetables! Root vegetables are surprisingly easy to grow using no dig methods. Yesterday I sowed parsnips, carrots, radish, Hamburg parsley and scorzonera into a recently applied mulch of compost on top of my heavy clay allotment soil.
back garden/blog/Books/exploring/featured/Garden visits/homesteading/kitchen garden/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/preparing the soil/propagation/real life/spring/The Creative Kitchen
Weeding for the Queen… and other gardening news!
The Queen visited “my” work kitchen garden yesterday, so I spent time on Wednesday making sure it was all weeded and spruced up. Ok, so perhaps the purpose of her visit to Bruton wasn’t to gaze upon my herbs and veggies but it’s not every day that one of the most famous people in the world pops down my high street!
It was thirsty work, so I enjoyed a refreshing cup of tea sitting in the sunshine on the wide timbers of the raised beds.
The Queen was in Bruton to open a new music building at The Kings School, a public (ie: private and very expensive for my international readers) and celebrate 500 years since the school received its Royal Charter. HRH also took time to visit Hauser and Wirth Somerset – where I run the kitchen garden for Roth Bar and Grill – and local race horse owner, Paul Nicholls’ stables.
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Back home
I had a great time on holidays, but it’s nice being home again too, especially now that spring is in the air!
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New Year news!
New allotment plans, magazine articles, writing a new book and other plans for 2019.
Vegan “Bubble and Squeak” salad recipe – ideal for using up leftovers
This gorgeous, vegetable-filled salad is ideal for winter meals, a great way of using leftover vegetables from a roast dinner – just like “bubble and squeak”. A tasty way to make the most of a Thanksgiving, Christmas or other roast dinner leftovers! This recipe includes an oil free version, too.
allotment/autumn/back garden/blog/Bruton/front garden/gardening/Homeacres/homesteading/kitchen garden/no dig gardening/no hungry gap/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/preparing the soil/propagation/The Creative Kitchen
November in my No Dig Garden
It has been a busy time since my last blog post and how the garden has changed! The weather has been typically British, from unseasonably warm to icy cold (for Somerset) and back again. Mornings are misty, deciduous trees almost entirely without leaves now and anything frost tender has died.
The polytunnel has frozen a few times now, I love the patterns on the frozen polythene, although it is still reaching 30ËšC in there some days. I have electronic thermometers in the greenhouse and polytunnel and it’s so interesting to see the extremes of temperatures undercover, compared with outside in the garden.
back garden/blog/No Dig Home/No Dig Organic Home and Garden/recipes/seasonal cooking/The Creative Kitchen
How to make nasturtium salt & other nasturtium recipes
In my garden a bright jungle of colourful nasturtiums are rejoicing in the surprisingly warm sunshine-y October weather. Â After a summer of taking their prolific spiciness for granted, I’m keen to preserve what I can before the weather turns colder….
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On this harvest moon…
This week began with the Autumn Equinox, the festival of Mabon, which starts on September 21st
autumn/back garden/blog/Bruton/featured/gardening/Homeacres/homesteading/kitchen garden/no dig gardening/No Dig Home/no hungry gap/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/recipes/seasonal cooking/summer/The Creative Kitchen
September sowing, sweetcorn harvests and recipes
As summer mellows into autumn, the allotment and garden is full of ripening vegetables and fruit.
A dry July update from my no dig garden
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.
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Two Summer Salads – Virgin Mojito Cucumbers and Roast Fennel with Beetroot
The vegetable gardens are filling up with gorgeous summer abundance, almost every day it seems we are welcoming back another seasonal delight.Â
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A quick update with a deeply chocolatey vegan rhubarb cake recipe
May is always a busy month for gardeners and it feels even more so this year here – is that the same for you?
How to Make a Spicy Multipurpose Cleaner
This fragrant, spicy versatile cleaning vinegar smells fantastic and cleans powerfully.
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New allotment plan and other experiments.
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!
allotment/back garden/blog/Bruton/countryside/featured/front garden/homesteading/kitchen garden/nature/no dig gardening/no hungry gap/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/winter
My polytunnel in early March
Usually the end of February and early March heralds a dramatic increase of activity in the greenhouse – but the unusually cold weather means last week was more about snowing than sowing!
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Sowing aubergines, chillies and sweet peppers for summer and autumn harvests
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.
blog/Bruton/featured/homesteading/nature/no dig gardening/No Dig Home/No Dig Organic Home and Garden/permaculture/winter
Getting ready for sowing!
I am really looking forward to getting into to the swing of spring sowing, but as this morning’s weather demonstrated in no uncertain terms, it is still very much winter!
How to make recycled paper pots for sowing and planting
Homemade newspaper pots are quick and easy to make and use, biodegrade in the soil and worms like munching them too! Put into reusable containers to make your own module trays or use as individual pots.