Mwillis

LATEST ARTICLES ( 1426 )

• Parsnips Make Their Appearance

  

  This year I am growing two varieties of Parsnip - "Duchess" and "Tender and True". I very seldom grow only one variety of any crop, simply because I like to... Read more

  Posted on 21 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• National Beanpole Week

  

  Last week was National Beanpole Week. I'm not a great fan of the "National xxxx Week" concept, but if you are going to have such a thing it is good to see one... Read more

  Posted on 20 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• The April Hokey Cokey

  

  You know the song "In, out, shake it all about, you do the Hokey Cokey, and you turn around..."? Well the dance it describes is my routine for April. Read more

  Posted on 19 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• With The Dimple Downwards

  

  This past weekend I sowed my bean seeds. Most bean plants are fairly tender (in the sense that they are not very resistant to frost or very cold temperatures),... Read more

  Posted on 18 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• A Drastic Remedy for Aphid Infestation

  

  For the last three years I have kept some of my mature chilli plants at the end of the growing-season, and over-Wintered them. Read more

  Posted on 17 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• Time to Plant out the Brassicas

  

  Over the last few weeks my brassicas have been slowly (and I do mean slowly) growing away, sheltered in the mini-greenhouses at night and brought out into the... Read more

  Posted on 16 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• Pricking-out Lettuces

  

  It's so easy to have too many Lettuces! When you buy a pack of seeds it normally has hundreds of seeds in it, and the temptation to sow them ALL may well be... Read more

  Posted on 15 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• The Asparagus Made It!

  

  A couple of months ago I transplanted some of my Asparagus crowns, making way for the construction of a new raised bed. Some people were sceptical about the... Read more

  Posted on 14 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• Remaindered

  

  The only vegetables I have remaining in the veg-plot from last year are a few Radicchio. For some unfathomable reason although sown at the same time as usual... Read more

  Posted on 13 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• Anxious Moments

  

  Anyone who has been a father will understand what I mean when I say that my feelings in relation to seeds sown in my garden are very like those of an expectant... Read more

  Posted on 12 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• Transplanting Peas

  

  Very few of the peas I sowed out in one of my raised beds have germinated. I think I was perhaps a bit optimistic sowing them in February, even though it was... Read more

  Posted on 11 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• Fritillaries and Cobblers

  

  Everyone knows the Daffodil, the archetypical English Spring flower, but fewer people know the Fritillary, which flowers at the same time. It is a more... Read more

  Posted on 10 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• Anti-Badger Defences

  

  At this time of year the badgers are a particular menace in my garden, especially since it is the time when my raised beds are rapidly filling up with seeds... Read more

  Posted on 09 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• Sowing, Potting, Planting...

  

  April is without a doubt the busiest month of the year for getting new plants started. Almost every day I sow something - Lettuce, Beans, Leeks, Radish, Beetroo... Read more

  Posted on 08 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• Upcycling / Downcycling / Recycling?

  

  As a breed, we gardeners tend to be ingenious and thrifty people. We always seem to be able to "make something out of nothing" or at very least re-purpose it.... Read more

  Posted on 07 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• Daddy Salad

  

  Ever since our children were tiny, Baby Leaf Salad has been known in our family as "Daddy Salad". Yesterday I started off a batch.There is no particular... Read more

  Posted on 06 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• What a Difference Some Warmth Makes

  

  Last weekend we had a couple of really warm days - by first week of April standards, that is. With winds coming up from the South the daytime temperature hit... Read more

  Posted on 05 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• Nymans

  

  On the way back from our overnight stay in East Grinstead, we paid a visit to another very well-known National Trust garden - Nymans, near Hayward's Heath, in... Read more

  Posted on 04 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• Celebrating Retirement

  

  On Friday we went away to celebrate my retirement, staying the night in a super-posh hotel near East Grinstead, Sussex. It was not the sort of place we would... Read more

  Posted on 03 April 2016 GARDENING, HOME

• Transplanting Basil Seedlings

  

  Since I have never had much success with outdoor-grown Basil (lack of warm sunshine is to blame), I have taken to growing some in pots indoors on a windowsill,... Read more

  Posted on 30 March 2016 GARDENING, HOME