I can’t resist having eggplants in the garden, with their glossy, plump, dark purple fruit and soft, grey-green foliage – they make me feel like a such a successful gardener! I reckon these plants can give most cottage garden flowers a run for their money when it comes to splashes of colour. To me they […]
Tags: eggplant, gluten-free, recipe, vegan, vegetarian
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The Asian Hand Cultivator (also known as a Ho Mi) is probably my favourite tool of the trade. Being a self-confessed Lazy Gardener I have found this tool to be invaluable. It takes the place of a trowel, transplanter, fork, cultivator and pointy stick! I use it for hacking and lifting weeds, turning the soil […]
Tags: cultivator, tool, weeder
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I grow a selection of flowers in my garden that I can add to salads, stuff with cheese, rice and herbs or use as a colourful decoration on fruit, cheese or salad platters. The vivid blues of borage, bright reds and oranges of nasturtium and the golden and lime hues of the zucchini flowers are […]
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This herb is a lovable rogue – don’t let it get the jump on you or it will take over your garden. I planted spearmint and that’s exactly what has happened. A profusion of spearmint. Lucky I like mint. So if you don’t want this to happen to you I suggest growing it in a […]
Tags: container gardening, herbs, recipe
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After killing my rosemary plant through enthusiastic over-harvesting, I was alarmed to discover that a replacement was not readily available: the recent wet weather had not been kind to the young plants in nurseries. Suddenly, I needed rosemary in nearly everything I wanted to cook and there was none to be had. It made me […]
Tags: herbs, maintenance
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Lining your chooks’ nesting and laying boxes with sweet-smelling herbs may seem a bit ‘out there’ at first, but when you think that many species of wild birds add aromatic plants to their nesting material, the idea may be worth considering for the local flock. Herbs used in this way by wild birds usually have […]
Tags: animal care, chickens, herbs, poultry
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When I was a child my grandfather always had a ginger jar on the sideboard, more often than not almost empty with just a few crystallised ginger left in it. He had an amazing collection of beautiful ginger jars giving his not-so-secret penchant away. Crystallised ginger is not something I enjoy but the beautiful ginger […]
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It’s not the first thing that springs to mind when I hear the words ‘charcoal’ and ‘chicken’ together, but charcoal as a chicken feed supplement can provide real health benefits for your chooks. Because animals’ water and feed can be exposed to contaminants – from rodents, flies or birds, for example – many poultry farmers […]
Tags: animal care, chickens, poultry
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It is very early spring here, not by the calendar but instead by the blossoming of the stone fruit. I know there is a risk of a late frost, so it is still too early to plant out tomato seedlings into the garden. Instead I’m starting them from seed, using my reliable old bottom-heat propagator. […]
Tags: fruit, seed propagation, tomatoes, vegetables
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I highly recommend being a worm farmer. Worm farms take a little effort to set up and then it’s just scraps in and fertiliser out! There are many different worm farms available to buy and plenty of information about making your own from recycled materials. Once you’re set up, knowing some basics about worms and […]
Tags: compost, livestock, worms
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