At this time of year, when the crops and flowers are far and few between and the weather is getting colder and darker, wildlife begins to struggle. There are so many birds looking for a good meal and it’s so easy, as gardeners, to provide that for them. I like to use natural things to feed the birds with. Not only does it look good in my winter garden, it’s also quite a fun little activity to do, particularly if you have kids! One of my favourite ways to do this is to cut an orange in half, scoop out the middle and fill with bird seed. Sometimes I hand these up but sometimes, I just place the ..read more

When it comes to allotment gardening, some crops definitely give you an abundance of harvests for months at a time. I think it’s good to have a mix of different crops at an allotment. What I mean by that, is make sure you grow some easy ones, ones that take care of themselves! Tomatoes are great, but they take time and effort to ensure a good crop. You have to spray them and prune them and water them and keep them away from any sort of cold. And even then, you don’t always get a great crop because… that’s just the nature of growing your own food I’m afraid! However, whack in some chard, some r ..read more

At the beginning of September I got my hands on a second allotment plot at my site. It’s a massive space, totally overgrown and right next to my original plot. The main reason I wanted to take on extra space was because over the last year I feel I’ve just run out of space to do all the things I want to on my plot. But also, I was starting to get annoyed with the jungle next door constantly encroaching onto my plot! Taking on a new allotment plot is always a challenge. Usually, but not always, they are pretty overgrown and require a lot of work to get into a useable space. My new plot was no ex ..read more

Every year I grow a beautiful pumpkin archway at my allotment plot. It’s one fo the highlights of my growing year and I get so excited when the mini pumpkins start to grow, hanging down like Christmas ornaments. They are so easy to grow and you get so many from just one plant. I tend to stick to Jack be Little pumpkins and Baby Boo’s as these are the varieties that tend to grow the best for me. They are small varieties of pumpkin which means they can be supported by the archway without bringing the whole thing down! Growing pumpkins vertically or over an archway has many benefits. Not only do ..read more

My first Autumn on the plot was drawing to an end. The large tree overlooking my garden had finally shaken the last of it’s leaves from the branches, much like a dog shaking water from his fur after a dip in the river. I had collected the leaves into small piles and bagged them up to make a leaf mould which would soon replenish my raised beds with rich nutrients. The circle of life, forever turning. Not all of my tomatoes had turned red, but it was too late for them to try now. Time had run out for warm loving crops and it was time to cut my losses and retire them from their long summers work ..read more

How can you avoid allotment burnout? Is allotment burnout even I real thing?! Well yes, it really is. Every single year I see the same thing. New allotment holders turning up at their plots in early spring and putting everything they have into it! They spend hours weeding, putting in raised beds, building sheds and poly tunnels. In the space of a couple of weeks their plots are pristine and beautiful. Then, along comes the springtime. A few crops go in, but all of a sudden they stop showing up as much. The weeds take hold and the plot begins to return to its original state. Maybe the show up a ..read more

This is my fourth year on the allotment plot and I’ve realised that there is always more to learn about growing your own food. By the end of the growing year I always feel good, like I’ve not only grown some amazing crops but I’ve also grown as a gardener. However, as soon as Spring comes around again, I’m back to feeling like an absolute beginner! There are so many lessons to be learnt in the garden. Some of them are practical lessons, some of them more philosophical. Here are 5 lessons I’ve learned from the allotment this year: 5 LESSONS I’VE LEARNED FROM THE ALLOTMENT Early protection is k ..read more

Long time no see! I’m back on the blogging after a little bit of a break. Spring and Summer is always my busiest time for work and this year has been pretty crazy! You might have seen some of my articles in Kitchen Garden magazine, or bought one of my t-shirts or perhaps you’ve been watching my TikToks. Or maybe you haven’t seen any of what I’ve been up to… but that’s where I’ve been. The allotment plot has thrived this year. I think the weather has played a big part in that with the warmer spring keeping slugs and snails away and now the wet summer helping all the crops to have a growth spur ..read more

About 4 years ago I took on my allotment plot with little gardening experience. Fuelled with nothing more than a dream of my perfect garden and loaded with determination to achieve that, I got to work. After many failures and an overwhelming amount of information coming at me from every angle, telling me exactly how I should be doing it, I felt defeated. It was at that moment when I decided to no longer follow every single rule and simply “whack stuff in”. If it grew, it grew. If it died, so be it. I would simple whack something else in instead. The Whack it in gardening method was created. S ..read more

It’s May 2023 and it’s time to sow lots of seeds for your allotment garden! Now that the weather is warming up and there is more sunlight, it’s the perfect time for most seedlings and plants to thrive. WHAT DOES DIRECT SOWING MEAN? Direct sowing is what we call whacking stuff outside straight away. So if we are direct sowing a row of lettuce, what we mean is that the seeds are going directly into the ground outside to grow. WHAT CAN I DIRECTLY SOW IN MAY? Beetroot Chard Broccoli Calabrese Cabbage Brussels Sprouts Lettuce Sweetcorn Carrots Turnips I could write a much longer list that this ..read more