I LOVE Christmas! If you’re anything like me you’ re always the one spending hours scouring the internet wanting to find the most thoughtful gifts for your loved ones. That’s why I’ve put together this ultimate list.. to put the ease back into seasonal cheer! You’re sure to find something for the plant daddy, floral queen or budding grower in your life! This page may contain affiliate links. 40. 2x Bokashi compost bins – Waterbutts direct – £79.99 While this may not be the most glamorous present out there, to a lot of us, composting is cool. Bokashi composting allows you to turn all sorts of f ..read more

What now? Starting a vegetable patch from scratch can always be daunting, especially when you’re on an allotment site surrounded by pristine plots with nosey neighbours staring judgingly at the waist high grass and weeds you’ve just taken over! What you need is a plan, so here are just a few things you might want to consider.. WATER AND LIGHT First things first – let’s talk elements. Find out sun direction and hours of light you tend to get. Do you have water sources like a tap and will it be available all year round? If not, where can you store and how can you collect rain water? Check out ..read more

I want growing your own vegetable or flower garden to be for accessible to everyone! But the sad fact is that gardening can be a minefield of new techniques, fancy latin words and old wives tales. So today I’m looking at a technique you may have heard of but have almost certainly seen in the back of a cupboard! I’m breaking down.. chitting potatoes. What is it? Does it work? Is it necessary? Let’s go! It’s that time of year when we are thinking about what to plant for the growing season ahead. One UK (and worldwide) staple is the humble potato! It is best to grow potatoes from special seed st ..read more

When all you want is a cosy winter warmer, this soup has got you covered. Blend it up to your desired consistency, it’ll be sure to make use of those allotment veg you’ve got waiting to be used up! It’s hearty. It’s healthy. It’s delicious. It’s simple. It’s your new favourite recipe! If you don’t have the time to make chicken stock from scratch, just chuck in a few stock cubes and it’ll be allllllmost as tasty! But trust me – it’s worth the effort. One top tip is to bulk produce your chicken stock by freezing chicken carcasses until you have 2 or 3, then make double the amount of stock w ..read more

If you’re new to allotment gardening then this one’s definitely for you. In the first of my series of ‘top ten’ blogs I let you in on my personal recommendations for crops to grow for beginners and serial plant killers! If you’re anything like me you might have opened up instagram and scrolled for hours looking at all these colourful allotments full of exotic and perfect looking veg. Well, firstly – I’m here to tell you that is not normal! You don’t need me to tell you but this is just a ‘highlights reel’, we don’t always want to show the mistakes that we make but I’d argue that the more mi ..read more

If you ask me, you can never have too much Rosemary. But with notoriously tricky seeds, how else can you grow your own easily? Well, I’m here to show you how to easily take cuttings from your established plants with a little help from Envii SeaFeed rooting gel. Rosemary is one of my absolute favourite herbs which I use a lot in cooking. The fantastic thing is that, being an evergreen shrub you can harvest all year round. But the plants aren’t just fantastic for eating, they are great for insects too. The bluey purple Spring/Summer flowers attract all sorts of bees to your garden. Originati ..read more

One of the big questions I get asked frequently is, “How do you grow plants for homegrown harvests all year round?” Well.. With a bit of planning it can be very simple to achieve, for even the smallest garden! But if you’re new to growing this year, like we all once were, then you may have just come to the realisation that your peak months for harvests – usually May to September in the UK, are over. But don’t be blue, I’m here to help you make the most out of your vegetable plot! Succession sowing is something that is really tricky to manouvre. You might think that sowing a whole bed of lettuc ..read more

My go-to pickled beetroot recipe. Deliciously spiced and so easy to prepare. These should store well for at least a few months in a cool dark place! INGREDIENTS METHOD 1kg medium-sized raw beetroot 1 tbsp olive oil 180g caster sugar 300ml white wine vinegar 200ml cold water 20ml balsamic vinegar 3 bay leaves 2 tbsp pickling spice (typically contains mustard seeds, cloves, allspice, cinnamon and ginger) 1 tbsp crushed chilli flakes 2 sterilised kilner jars Preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 Wash and scrub your beetroot to remove any dirt before trimming the root and stalk ..read more