16th November 2019 Autumn, Featured

A principle which always works well (for me since 1982) is to mulch the soil and feed soil life, after clearing last harvests in the autumn. Any decomposed organic matter is good to use, enough that t

26th October 2019 Autumn, Featured

October was wet and November could be cold. I hope that frost won’t hurt some late harvests of fennel, which I want to cover with fleece. Most other autumn veg can stand light freezing, includin

13th October 2019 Autumn, Featured

Autumn has brought 160mm/6.4in rain in three weeks, but thanks to no dig the water is draining away, and without leaching nutrients. Almost all beds at Homeacres have had no compost since last year, a

25th September 2019 Autumn, Featured

We pass from late summer to early winter in a short space of time, and since the weather is already making that shift, here are my tips on being ready for the cooler and darker months. My recent inter

28th August 2019 Autumn, Featured

Often the weather flips in late August from summer to autumn, and this year is no exception. The last 7 days here had an average maximum temperature of 25C/77F, then next week’s forecast gives 19C/6

4th December 2018 Autumn, Small Garden, Summer, Videos

A follow-up to Small Garden of June, see how summer plantings of beans, kale, beetroot, carrots, leeks and salads have grown. Plus how the outdoor tomatoes are ripening already, early for this tempera

4th December 2018 Autumn, Sowing, Spring, Videos

A re-release after the first upload of May 2017 disappeared from my YouTube channel. The same video, filmed and edited by Edward Dowding February to April, starting with multisowing the seeds in modul

4th December 2018 Autumn, Sowing, Spring, Videos

Broad or FAVA beans are a hardy vegetable which tolerates some frost. In my garden, zone 8 climate with average winter lows of -6 to -8C/20F, broad beans get their roots down in autumn and sit quietly

31st October 2018 Autumn, Featured

After a gorgeous summer and early autumn, we suddenly have wintry weather. However it’s also continuing to be dry here with just 60mm/2.4in rain in October. That makes 299mm/12in rain since April, w

14th October 2018 Autumn

Autumnal weather has brought just 41mm/1.6in rain here so far in October, encouraging new growth but not yet enough to soak into the soil, which is still mostly dry below 4-6in/10-15cm. The average te

30th September 2018 Autumn

Quite soon the switch flicks and the last joys of summer cede to cooler and above all darker days. We have had many cool nights already and some ground frost, then many days of sunshine and temperatur

15th September 2018 Autumn

If you have not already sown salads for cropping undercover through winter and into spring, NOW is the moment. So they have time to establish before winter, make decent roots then crop in cool weather