Yellow tomato sauce (* means it was sourced from the Nursery garden) Pasta (usually homemade from duck eggs and 00 pasta flour – but here, dried, courtesy of Aldi) Onion Garlic* Tomato puree Yellow tomatoes* String beans* Fresh loofah* Grated Italian hard cheese A few broccoli spears Pesto* Nasturtium pesto Handful of each: Nasturtium* Fresh basil (not entirely necessary – but…
Back in the 1980’s I was lucky enough to ask a question on radio’s Gardeners’ Question Time. Much to my teenage daughter’s embarrassment, my question was: “I have whitefly on my brassicas, can the panel recommend a remedy?” It turned out that the whitefly were harmless and could be washed off with a hose. There…
It’s that time of year when we begin to harvest those prize fruits, vegetables and flowers that we’ve been nurturing all year. Back in August 1871, the “hard-handed mechanics” of St Ann’s Allotments “gently and lovingly” handled their roses: “They cut them affectionately, set them up tenderly, and the Roses respond by displaying their full beauty. It is impossible…
From my first visit to St Ann’s Allotments, around 3 years ago, I knew I had to have a plot here. There was a certain magic to the place. No, I’m not a witch! I don’t mean weird midnight rituals and other dubious practices. I mean a real feeling of wonder and childlike glee at being immersed in a natural environment brimming…
Have you seen those very posh summerhouses at some of the larger garden centres? They tempt you inside and then you catch sight of the price. £10k, £15K or £20K. No problem. I’ll have two. And what about buying one of those expensive super-duper barbeques that the British weather will only allow me (or rather my wife)…
I moved into my house 20 years ago and enthusiastically installed my greenhouse and raised beds. Many solutions to pigeons, squirrels and other crop-raiding critters have been tried with little success. My heart fell when, after much lockdown attention, my red current and gooseberry bushes fell to the same fate, even before ripe this year!…