Tag: wildlife

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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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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Top 10 FAQ - How to start No Dig Gardening in the UK
blog/FAQ/featured/gardening/Homeacres/mulching/no dig gardening/No Dig Home/No Dig Organic Home and Garden/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/preparing the soil/You tube

Top 10 FAQ – How to start your No Dig Garden

Stephanie Hafferty 41 Comments

We are often asked to start no dig gardens and so Charles, the admin team of our Facebook group and I have come up with the Top Ten Most Frequently Asked Questions.

If we haven’t covered your questions, please ask them in the comments here (or on the Facebook group if you are a member) and we will answer them as soon as we can.

There’s a lot more information in our (Award Winning!!) book, No Dig Organic Home and Garden, in Charles’ other books, on his website and his You Tube Channel.

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allotment/autumn/blog/Bruton/countryside/featured/gardening/homesteading/kitchen garden/mulching/nature/no dig gardening/No Dig Home/organic/permaculture

No Dig Allotment November Update

Stephanie Hafferty 4 Comments

My allotment has been quite neglected recently. All of my travels (Yorkshire for a wedding, then Thailand and Laos, with a work trip to Ireland just 2 days after returning), my work and autumnal weather suddenly arriving after a mild sunny spell – quite a shock after Thailand for me! – has meant that I am not quite where I would like to be for November 22nd. Nevermind though, it will all get done and I have had a lovely time.

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back garden/blog/Bruton/featured/kitchen garden/no dig gardening/No Dig Home/No Dig Organic Home and Garden/organic/permaculture/potions/preserving/recipes/seasonal cooking/summer

A cornucopia of summer soft fruit … with recipes for homemade cassis and blackcurrant wine

Stephanie Hafferty 6 Comments

Perennial fruit bushes play a key role in my garden, producing an abundance of delicious berries during summer months. These I preserve, to enjoy year round: jewel coloured jams, cordials, liqueurs, chutneys and other delicious additions to my homegrown larder.

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

Clearing and planting

Stephanie Hafferty Leave a comment

I’ve mostly been concentrating on my at home garden, so it was a real pleasure to be able to spend some time at my allotment, getting ready for everything that will be planted there over the next week or so.

I’d let the brassicas go to flower for the wildlife, but now needed most of the space for new plantings.

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allotment/back garden/blog/Bruton/featured/mulching/nature/no dig gardening/No Dig Home/organic/permaculture/polytunnel/preparing the soil/spring

Spring busy-ness – part two

Stephanie Hafferty 1 Comment

The sun is shining (some of the time!), everything is growing fast! When I am not sowing, planting or weeding, I’m thinking about what I’m going to be doing next and even dreaming about my garden at night 🙂

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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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back garden/blog/featured/permaculture/potions/recipes

Edible flowers and a rose vinegar recipe

Stephanie Hafferty 1 Comment

On Friday I harvested the first of my roses to dry the petals. The edible flowers here are beginning to bloom in abundance, adding beauty and colour to the garden and food, with the added bonus of smelling amazing and feeding the bees. My article on growing and using edible flowers, including many recipes, is in the current issue of Permaculture Magazine (International) and the new publication, Permaculture  Magazine, North America.

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allotment/blog/community garden/exploring/gardening/hugelkultur/permaculture

Riverside Community Garden, Cardiff

Stephanie Hafferty 3 Comments

I enjoy having the opportunity of visiting urban community gardens, especially as we live in a very small town surrounded by countryside. There are two allotment sites here and a community orchard (planted by Charles, myself and some friends) but not much that combines community and growing. Most people in Bruton have some sort of garden, there are a lot of local growers and farms, so I think there is less need in the countryside.

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