What is a seed potato?

“Swedish death cleaning” may sound morbid, but the concept is less doom and gloom and more existential and sweet. Think of the decluttering style this way: if the KonMari Method and hygge had a baby, it’d be Swedish death cleaning.  The idea is simple, yet astounding. Swedish death cleaning is a Scandinavian method of organizing that focuses on decluttering your home before you pass on in an effort to lessen the burden on your grieving loved ones. Author Margareta Magnusson coined the phrase in her 2017 book The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, and the concept has been gaining traction ever since. 

Wondering what to plant after potatoes? There are several factors to consider including crop rotation and the time of year. Crop rotation is a key strategy for reducing pest and disease problems, as well as nutrient depletion. The other point to keep in mind is timing. Potatoes can be dug in mid to late summer as a new potato crop or left to mature for a fall harvest of storage spuds. When you harvest your potatoes can influence what you next plant in the bed. Below I share my ten favorite vegetables to plant after potatoes to help you grow a healthy and productive garden.

It looks as though spring might be on its way in the northern hemisphere, and gardeners’ thoughts are turning towards tomatoes and potatoes. You may have already sown your first tomato seeds; your seed potatoes may be chitting on the windowsill. But what if you could get both potatoes and tomatoes from the same plant – a TomTato?

An ideal seed compost is able to retain water, whilst at the same time letting excess water drain away to provide an environment that is damp but not waterlogged. It allows penetration of plant roots and is able to anchor plants, but has space for air. Its texture is consistent, and it is free from pests, diseases and weeds that would compete with the seedlings. As we have seen, it doesn’t need to contain many nutrients if seedlings are going to be pricked out; seedlings growing in modules will either need enough nutrients in the compost to support them through their first weeks of life, or suitable supplementary feeding.

Although August is the height of the summer, and it’s worthwhile taking time to stop and smell the roses, the vegetable gardener also has to be aware that autumn is just around the corner. That doesn’t have to be a depressing thought! It just means you need to harvest any crops that won’t survive the first frosts, and that you may want to preserve some so that you can have a homegrown taste of summer during the winter months. You should have some new crops on the way to look forward to, and be thinking about potting up herbs to bring under cover for the winter.

It’s nearly two years since I started the Alternative Kitchen Garden Seed Appeal, with the aim of raising enough money to help the Millennium Seed Bank save a species. We still have a way to go to reach the target ;(

Have you noticed that potatoes left in the fridge, or in the bottom of a sack, tend to grow long white sprouts after a while? Discarded tubers can do the same in the compost heap, and it’s the way that seed potatoes start to grow when they’re planted out in the garden. Those long, white shoots are fragile and easily broken, and they can carry on growing to gargantuan proportions.

A little while ago I was talking about the recent extended period in my life when, for a variety of reasons, I was unable to garden. As it happens, I have been reading The Resilient Gardener, by Carol Deppe, which is subtitled “Food production and self-reliance in uncertain times”.

If October starts warm it can provide a nice breathing space, to catch up late harvesting, saving seeds and generally getting the garden ready for the winter. It’s also the time to cover any bare soil, with mulches if necessary, to protect your soil structure from bad weather, and to ensure any tall plants (mainly brassicas) are staked against ‘wind rock’, which can lift their roots out of the soil. You may also need to net brassicas to stop them being munched by marauding pigeons.

Ah, April, a month that gives us leaves on the trees, blossom in the hedgerow, and a headache with its changeable weather. We gardeners would love April to be a season of sunshine and soft showers. But, instead, we need to plan for sleet and hail, or even snow. As the effects of climate change are felt more widely, we may even need to forego thinking of April as a rainy month at all, and just an extension of dry winters. It’s also at least a month before we can be relatively sure that there will be no more frosts.

May is a lovely month in the garden, although it’s a busy time for the gardener! It’s a good sowing month, plants will be growing strongly in the higher temperatures and light levels, and there will be some harvests on offer. You’ll also be able to watch the birds, bees, butterflies and other wildlife enjoying your organic plot!

You’ll hear weather forecasters referring to spring from the beginning of March, as meteorological spring starts on March 1st. The spring equinox, when the days start to get longer than the nights, is around 20th March. Actual signs of spring – warmer days and plant growth – may take longer to appear!