Chillis and tomatoes
A few weeks ago I visited the nursery of Sea Spring Seeds in Dorset. Before I launch into my visit, a bit of background for those readers who are not familiar with Sea Spring Seeds. The small nursery is located
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Sally Morgan
Sally is an experienced organic gardener, smallholder and writer. Here you can read about the organic one-acre plot and walled garden that Sally has set up at Empire Farm in Somerset. Sally blogs regularly about what's being grown and raised, her greenhouse, the organic allotments and her walled garden, as well as matters that concern her - climate change, healthy soils, organic growing, peatfree compost, biodiversity, sustainability etc. She writes about her visits to farms, gardens, allotments and growers during the year. You can also find out about her workshops that she runs from Empire Farm and the books she has written, including The Resilient Garden and Allotment Handbook, The Climate Change Garden and Living on One Acre or Less. She is a contributor to Amateur Gardening, Bloom and other gardening magazines. She publishes a weekly newsletter on Substack, the Climate Change Garden, which covers a wide range of gardening topics.
Waterlogged gardens and allotments
Its been such a wet autumn and early winter with hardly any frost. As gardeners, I expect we are all hoping for some dry weather that will give our soils a chance to dry out. With so much water falling
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Where are all the ladybirds?
Weatherwise, 2023 has been a weird year. Over winter we had mild, wet spells and then extreme cold, a wet March and April and then the weather flipped to hot and dry. No wonder people are concerned about insect numbers,
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Rewilding the garden – Knepp style
Last summer I had the chance to visit the rewilded walled garden at the ground breaking Knepp Estate in Sussex. I have been keen to apply some of the principles of rewilding to my walled garden and jumped at the
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Looking and learning
The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch took place last weekend and its something I do every year. But for me, its not just about watching for birds and recording their numbers – its about learning more about my garden…. I love
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Earthworms – native and non-native, nightcrawlers and jumping worms
I have been finding loads of earthworms this week as I plant bulbs which is really encouraging as it’s a really good sign that my soil is healthy. Earthworms are vital for healthy soil. They pull organic matter into the
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Halophytes – the answer to drought?
As an ecologist, I love exploring salt marshes and shingle banks where conditions are truly extreme for plant and animal alike. It’s here that you find sea kale, thrift, yellow-horned poppy, sea lavender, sea pea, sea campion, sea blight and
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Tulips, chill and climate change
Tulips, chill and climate change Tulip bulbs are back in the garden centres, heralding the time of year when we start trawling through the bulb catalogues and planning our colour combinations for spring. Of course, no bulb display is complete
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How to cope in the garden during a hose pipe ban
Here are a few top tips to help get you through the heatwave when you can’t use your hose pipe Prioritise the areas of the garden that need water – pots, newly planted trees, shrubs and other plants, the veg
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Ants …
It’s been a summer of ants and I am not just thinking of flying ants that appears on balmy summer nights. No, I am thinking of those evil red numbers that emerge from the ground and swarm over your gloved
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