Organic Gardening Tips for January

A new year has begun!! Welcome 2024!  Its time to make plans for your garden and allotment and order in seeds and plants!  We can now also look forward to ever so slightly lighter evenings as the shortest day has passed. Jobs to do this month: • Prune soft fruit removing old stems • Plant…


Tips to Help You Look After Your Soil

World Soil Day is celebrated in December every year. The aim is to raise awareness of the importance of healthy ecosystems, by addressing the growing challenges in soil management, increasing soil awareness and encouraging everyone to do what they can to improve soil health throughout the year. Gardening with a focus on soil health is…


Organic Gardening Tips for December

Time to keep warm indoors and start making plans for next years vegetable crops and flowering bed designs. Dont forget to prune all the fruit and berry trees and bushes. Jobs to do this month: • Harvest winter vegetables • Cover rhubarb with forcing pots or a thick layer of our plant feed and soil…


National Tree Week – November 26th – December 4th 2023

It’s National Tree Week and it is the UK’s biggest annual tree celebration, running from November 26th 2023 – December 4th 2023. It was originally called “Plant A Tree in ‘73”, and was started in (you guessed it!) 1973 by The Tree Council in response to Dutch Elm Disease – a tree disease that stops…


Tips for Tulips – Planting and Growing

Tips for tulips – especially when growing in pots Planting and growing tulips in pots is a great way to enjoy these beautiful flowers if you have limited garden space and rely on container gardening: they will brighten up your balcony and bring a fresh spring feel to any patio or roof terrace after the…


Organic Gardening Tips for November

The clocks have moved back and the days are getting shorter and colder. The rain and storms keep coming, so the ground is saturated. Its time to start protecting your plants from the changing weather. Jobs to do this month: • Sow onion seeds and sweet peas now in the greenhouse using our peat free…


Nurture your soil, naturally, with green manure

Also known as cover crops, green manure is grown specifically to help improve soil fertility, nutrient levels and organic matter, whilst also suppressing weeds. You can plant cover crops into beds that would otherwise be left empty through the winter. Phacelia, Vetch seeds, Mustard seeds and Clover are all types of cover crop. Here’s 5…


Soil Biology: The balancing act of beneficial microbes

In the intricate world of soil biology, beneficial microbes are the unsung heroes that quietly work behind the scenes, ensuring the fertility and productivity of our soils. These microscopic organisms, including bacteria, fungi, archaea, and protozoa, may be small in size, but their impact on soil health is immense. Every organism present in the soil…


2 Natural Growers, 4 muddy boots, 1 competition

In April, Marie and Jim @4_muddy_boots agreed to stage a competition in their large allotment on behalf of Natural Grower. Marie and Jim split their tomato seedlings – grown at home on the window shelf – into two batches. Planting • Jim potted his tomato plants into pots using grow-bag peat-free composting soil. He kept…


Go Wild for Worms!

Love your land and go wild for worms! Worms are your BFF! They provide more benefits to the soil ecosystem than any other soil-dwelling creature or organism. They have the unique ability to help regulate soil pH levels and create a favourable environment for beneficial soil microorganisms. Their subterranean feeding activity helps to keep a…