We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.
19.01.2024 - 14:59 / clairesallotment.com
It’s that time of year when the seed potatoes I ordered a couple of months ago arrive through the post. It always makes me happy because it means that the growing season is starting.
The weather is cold and most mornings we have either frost or fog, but by the afternoon usually they’ve gone and the sun is out. A memory from last year came up on my Facebook page today reminding me that this time last year we had snow. At the time it wasn’t much, but we then got quite a lot more and I was unable to work for a week, to be honest we couldn’t get the car out of the courtyard onto the road. It’s something we get used to so are prepared. The kids went sledging one afternoon in the snow and were gone for hours. I say kids, at the time they were 18 and two of them were 21, so not really kids. Although the way they played in the snow……
There is no snow on the cards at the moment, but I’m sure we’ll get some before the winter is through.
I’ve got a quiet week at work this coming week so have lots planned in the garden. I’ve got seeds to sow, various veggies to harvest and more tidying up to do. Also the on going job of stopping certain creatures that keep burrowing under next doors fence and into our garden. You think you stop them and then they find another way in. I will win one day, I think it’s rats, but I’ve ordered a wildlife camera to see exactly what it is. Hopefully they’ll arrive this week and then I’ll know for certain. Little buggers. They don’t seem to be eating anything, just digging the woodchips on the back path. I’m now wondering if it’s a stoat? Hopefully this question will be answered when I get my camera.
Anyway back to the potatoes. Once you get your spuds you’ll need to take them out their packaging and start the
We've been independently researching and testing products for over 120 years. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission. Learn more about our review process.
If you’re a gardener—and since you picked up this magazine I’m guessing you are—you probably get peppered with plant questions all the time. I know I do. Take Thanksgiving just this past year. My dad was looking for some trees that would “subtly block” his neighbors who had recently put a pool in their backyard. So in between doling out mashed potatoes and deciding if I wanted apple or pumpkin pie for dessert, I pulled out Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs from the nearby bookshelf to spark some suggestions. (That illustrated encyclopedia was a Christmas gift a few years back to help my dad make plant choices without my help. Its successfulness in doing so is still up for debate.) This same scenario takes place at summer picnics, children’s birthday parties, or even on planes when my seatmate asks what I do for a living. After I answer, it’s common to hear, “Wow, that’s so interesting. Listen, I have this spot where I need something …” Most of these inquiries center around trees too—and I get it. A tree is an investment with a capital “I.” Not only is a tree the single most expensive plant you will likely purchase for your landscape, but it is also the longest lived. Trees don’t like to be moved, they generally require a bit more effort to get established than a perennial or shrub, and they are usually the focal point of a specific area. For all of these reasons, everyone wants to choose the right tree.
Often, these are timeless items that have truly stood the test of time, but there’s also room for innovations that have transformed the way we garden – battery-powered tools that have done away with electric cables and noisy, smelly two-stroke fuel, for example. We asked the country’s top head gardeners which tools they couldn’t contemplate gardening without.
Lately, it seems like every time you turn on the local weather forecast, the meteorologist is talking about drought conditions. If you are in a severely affected area, or under water restrictions, this doesn’t mean you have to give up gardening. By following some drought-wise garden water tips, you can have your water, and your garden, too.
If you’re constantly tripping over wayward shoes in your entryway, battling piles of paperwork on your kitchen island, or stepping on LEGOs (ouch!), it’s easy to fall into the frustration a cluttered space can cause.
It’s still January, but only just and I’ve just sown my January seeds. I’m not late, I’m just in time!
The principal requirements of the potato plant are adequate available food, sufficient water, good drainage and the type of soil in which tubers may swell easily. An open, unshaded site is very necessary. Light soils are considered very suitable, provided they have been dressed with large quantities of moisture-retaining organic matter. A heavy soil may also be improved structurally by the addition of organic material. A reasonably light, easily worked loam is probably the ideal. Where farmyard manure is available, it may be dug in during winter digging at the rate of up to 50kg (1cwt) to 6 sq m (6 sq yd). Garden compost may be applied even more generously during winter digging or as a mulch after planting. If a compound potato fertilizer is raked into the soil before planting, use it at the rates advised by the manufacturer.
In theory, the start of a new year is a fabulous time to tackle a major declutter. But in practice, it can be a bit more complicated.
13 of the Best Purple and Blue Potato Varieties
If you are looking for a colorful plant that’s easy to maintain and can be kept on a shelf, windowsill or on a tabletop, then these incredible Moses in the Cradle Varieties are the ones you must grow indoors or anywhere you like!
Here are incredible indoor plants that have been around for 100 years! From a grand 108-year-old Jade Plant filled with love to a fancy rhododendron, each one tells a beautiful story. That's not all! A 100-year-old Monstera and a generational Christmas Cactus passed down for three generations. And More!
One great way to wake up from our collective holiday haze is to get focused on cleaning up and clearing out.