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April 15th in a cold spring, fleece covers, transplant survival, new bed and compost heap
15th April 2021 Featured, Spring
A difficult spring so far, with a lack of warmth and frosts down to -4.5 C here, nine frosts in the last 12 nights. However it has been dry! And although that means watering new transplants, it also m
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April 2021 new plantings and beds, growing seed from winter root vegetables, bioreactor of woodchip, cold ahead
29th March 2021 Featured, Spring
Transplanting times are here, but watch out for cold weather too. Plants ready now are frost hardy, such as lettuce, peas, onions and broccoli. I advise to wait until mid April before sowing frost ten
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March 2021 update new seedlings and sowings, new land, no dig bed prep, cool spring
13th March 2021 Featured, Spring
It has been a different kind of winter here, somehow cold and damp in a more damaging way than 2018, when we had bitter winds in March but with less damage to plants. See the broad bean photos below.
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March 2021 new no dig gardens, starting seeds, potting composts and trays
28th February 2021 Featured, Spring
This is a full on time for a propagation, although also there is no rush to sow tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, sweetcorn et cetera. Spring is also good for making new beds, which you can actually do
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Mid February 2021 new no dig beds, new course details, sowing in milder areas, no dig clothes
12th February 2021 Winter
Cold weather has been gripping much of the northern hemisphere this February so far, but days are lengthening! Some sowings can happen now, but there is no rush and see my comments below, where also I
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February 2021 new no dig land, winter harvests and vegetables stored, wait to sow, compost and woodchip
30th January 2021 Featured, Winter
February looks to be cold. And we have not done much garden work in January… oh wait, I bought an acre of new land, the pasture to south east of Homeacres, which used to have horses. I find it
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January 2021 make compost, wood sides or not, greens and root harvests, new module tray, small garden
29th December 2020 Winter
Winter has finally arrived here with frost most nights. and days noticeably colder, as low as 2 C 36 F maximum. This is okay! Much better to have cold now than in the spring, and all being well you ha
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December 2020 Bumper Blog prep for winter, new no dig beds and old sides, harvests, broad beans, energies
28th November 2020 Featured, Winter
Autumn has continued very nicely here, as in my new video. November has been almost as mild as October, and less wet with a close-to-average 76mm/3in rain. However winter is now arriving in the north
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November 2020 avoid unnecessary jobs, ease into winter, make new beds, love your fungi
31st October 2020 Autumn, Featured
Prepare for winter with a clear mind. Beware the seasonal misunderstandings which take root from misleading information. They waste your time and cost you money. My quotes below are to give you an ide
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October 2020 mid month – make compost, clear ground, brassica insects, vegetables for spring, seeds, fungi, insects
14th October 2020 Autumn, Featured
The transition from summer to winter vegetables is almost complete. It’s both sad and exciting: we just ate the first celeriac, yet still have tomatoes ripening in boxes. There have been cool ni
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October 2020 autumn harvests, new planting under cover, composting wood chips, diseases
29th September 2020 Autumn, Featured
It’s a stark difference between the remains of summer in late September, and an entry to winter by 31st. I notice while picking salads every week, how leaves from the same plants become thinner, pal
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Mid September sow & plant, no dig & nutrients, squash maturity, myths, harvests
14th September 2020 Autumn, Featured
We should continue to see strong growth for another month, until daylight levels fall off a cliff in late October. If you are still sowing seeds, every day now counts for a lot, so don’t delay (see
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September 2020 no dig, new book, interplant, sow, space, pests, apple(s)
30th August 2020 Autumn, Featured
Growth this summer has been strong and abundant, with few weeds thanks to no dig. The garden is full, but we are still finding just enough gaps to set out new plants, and making new sowings in trays,
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August 15th update keep beds full, cucumbers tomatoes and melons, save seed, make compost, insect covers, store onions
15th August 2020 Summer
Early August has been unusually warm here, night minimum temperatures averaging16C/61F and day maxima averaging 27C/81F. Growth is fast as long as one waters – we use a hose, which takes time w
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August 2020 fast growth, succession plantings, onion harvest tips, compost quandaries, sowings now and soon
25th July 2020 Featured, Summer
It’s a rainstorm as I write and I am grateful for it. Before today, July’s total rainfall was 29mm/1.2in and after this storm it’s 46mm/1.8in. Still below average. We have been water
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July update 12th, prune squash, sow more & transplant leeks, make compost, onion and potato readiness, path mulch
12th July 2020 Featured, Summer
It’s speeding up now, but growth has been slowed by the weather here. A cool two weeks until 10th July saw daytime maxima always under 20C 68F and averaging 18.5C 65F, with just 4.5 hours sunshi
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July 2020 summer unfolds with more sowings, interplanting, weeds to hoe or pull, seeds to save, potato harvests and beware pyralids
27th June 2020 Featured, Summer
June has been warm and with mixed weather, including decent rainfall! of 107mm so far. Rain in June is the best of any month, after the surge of growth in spring. At Homeacres it has rescued my peas,
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June mid month new picking and plantings, intersowing carrots, making and using composts, pyralid weedkiller hidden in composts
13th June 2020 Featured, Summer
The weather is cooler and damper than May, but only 28mm/1.1in rain here so far. The soil under growing plants is still dusty – but some of you have had big rain, even too much. “A drippin
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June 2020 extreme weather, early harvests, mulching, no dig garlic, webinars, insects, keep sowing, problems with bought composts
30th May 2020 Featured, Summer
May was the driest ever month here, in 47 years of my records. 1990 came close with 4mm rain compared to 3.2mm (0.13in) in May 2020. In the last 20 years, the previous driest May was 2010 with 34mm, s
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May 2020 update, fast new growth but frost returns, sowing methods, pea supports, compost heaps, carrots, slugs & flea beetles
11th May 2020 Featured, Spring
We just had a week of summer weather, now winter returns briefly. Old weather lore refers to the ice nights of 11th-13th May! I hope you can cover potatoes enough to protect them, and any other frost
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May 2020, propagate, pick, water, pests, no dig, clear to replant, new sowings
29th April 2020 Featured, Spring
April in the UK has been kind to gardeners, unusually warm and sunny, and now there is rain. I hope it’s springlike elsewhere, or nicely autumnal in the southern hemisphere. Gardening is at leas
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