1039 results

How to Grow Radish Black Spanish

Radishes are a cool season vegetable that can mature very quickly. The small, round varieties will get woody if grown in hot temperatures.Planting Radishes Radishes are direct seeded in the garde … Read more
How To Grow Sorrel

Garden Sorrel, also known as Spinach Dock or Narrow Leaved Dock, is a commonly grown herb or leaf vegetable, it has tall juicy stems and edible oblong leaves. Sorrel has a sharp almost sour taste a … Read more
How To Grow Marigold

Marigolds are grown in gardens as natural insect-repellents. We grow them at Quickcrop to repel insects from our polytunnel. Marigolds are prolific annuals that can add color to any garden. You can … Read more
French Intensive Gardening

‘French Intensive Gardening’. Sounds kind of daunting, who wants gardening to be intensive? Me, I like to do a little burst of work here and there and take it easy on myself. But you shouldn’t read … Read more
How to Grow Endive

How to grow endive, a popular salad vegetable on the Continent there are two types: curly endive (chicorée frisée), which is more heat-resistant, and Batavian or broad leaved (escarole); there are … Read more
How to Grow Osaka

Mustard greens are very popular in China for stir-fry, and mostly used cooked. The oriental mustards are a very large group of rather coarse-leaved brassicas, usually having a spicy flavour. The ma … Read more
How To Grow Turnip (White)

Milan Purple Top has distinctive flat-topped roots, white with purple crown. Quick maturing, useful in frames and under cloches. They are a fast crop, being ready in just five to eight weeks fr … Read more
How To Grow Parsley

Parsley is a biennial edible herb grown for its leaves which are commonly used in cooking and for garnishing salads and other cold dishes. Parsley is also known known to be highly nutritious and is … Read more
The Benefits of Raised Bed Gardening

Why I Grow in Raised Vegetable BedsI guess the best place to get started is why should I grow in Raised Vegetable Beds in the first place? For me, growing in raised beds was my only option at first. … Read more
How to Grow Mizuna

Mizuna is one of those strange oriental vegetables which arrived in the West in the last 20 years or so. The name for this leafy green comes from the Japanese mizu, for “water,” and nu, for “mustard … Read more
No Dig Garden Beds

Put that shovel away! No-dig gardening continues to grow in popularity with home growers and gardeners, but what does it actually involve? Will you need to sell all your garden tools? (Not quite) The … Read more
The Best Crops to Grow in a Polytunnel

A polytunnel can really open up a world of growing possibilities, extending the growing season, providing extra shelter and increasing your chances of success with warm climate crops. However, depen … Read more
How To Grow Rosemary

Rosemary is one of the most decorative herbs and is well worth growing for its appearance alone. Dependent on the variety, it has small, profuse flowers appearing in late spring which range from dar … Read more
Polytunnel Pest Control

When it comes to dealing with garden pests, the enclosed space of the polytunnel can be something of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, your crops are protected from the outdoors - which can make … Read more
How To Grow Basil

Basil is one of the most well-known and well-used herbs in the UK and Ireland. It is used as a key ingredient in Italian dishes including pizza and pasta. It is the main ingredient in pesto and it i … Read more
Vegan Vegetable Gardening

Vegan gardening has a lot of overlap with organic or no-dig gardening. However, the ways in which it differs are related to the principles of veganism itself. Veganism is a belief or philosophy that … Read more
How To Grow Lettuce (Mix)

How to grow Lettuce guide. The Quickcrop all lettuce mix contains a broad range of easy to grow lettuce, ideal for cut and come again use. It's great to enjoy your own lettuce over the summer but i … Read more
How To Grow Kohl Rabi

Kohlrabi sports a rosette of blueish-green leaves above a swollen stem. This almost globe-like stem makes it appear like a turnip growing on a cabbage root, in fact In German, Kohl means cabbage an … Read more
How To Grow Thyme

Thyme deserves a place in all herb gardens. Its foliage is attractive, the long-lasting flowers are very pretty and it is a compact easy-care plant. On top of that it is one of the most useful … Read more
How To Grow Mint

Mint is an aromatic perennial herb with oblong to lanceolate leaves. Mint plants are easily maintained and if left untended they can spread quite rapidly, making them a rather invasive plant. This … Read more
How to Grow Rocket

Rocket is very quick growing, Rocket Cultivated Rucola Coltivata is a vigorous, robust plant with pungent leaves. Use as a main ingredient of a mixed green salad to add zest and texture. Where … Read more
Aphid Pest Control

Aphids are the source of much frustration in the garden. Also referred to as greenfly or blackfly, these small sap-sucking insects feed on ornamental plants and edibles alike. They can cause a range … Read more
The Polytunnel in April

So, how is everyone feeling with the improvement in the weather? I for one am feeling pretty good about it. I don't know what the temperatures were like where you are, but it was wonderfully warm in … Read more
How To Grow Dill

Dill leaves are very aromatic and can be used to flavour a wide range of foods, particularly fish and pickles. Once it is dried out it quickly begins to lose flavour, so it is best used fresh. … Read more
How To Grow Sage

Sage is very slow to establish itself, so be prepared for a wait if you grow it from seed. When established however, common sage is reasonably hardy and tolerant of almost all conditions as long as it … Read more
Green Wall Gardens - Living Walls & Vertical Gardening

In a perfect world, there’d be plenty of room for gardens, greenery and foliage to exist in harmony with us as we go about our day-to-day lives. However, urbanisation and increasing levels of populati … Read more
How To Grow Borage - Herb

Borage, also known as a starflower, is a mediterranean annual herb that also grows well in the UK and Ireland. It has hairy leaves and stems with a 5 pointed blue flower, white and pink vari … Read more
How To Grow Oregano

Growing Oregano in the herb garden. The three varieties normally grown are 'wild marjoram' (common oregano), pot marjoram and sweet or knotted marjoram . They are all easy to grow, well-suited to … Read more
How To Grow Salad Burnet

Salad Burnet, also called Garden Burnet, Small Burnet or simply just burnet, is a perennial herb of the Rosaceae or Rose family. It's edible leaves have a slight cucumber like flavour and can be us … Read more
How To Grow Summer Savory

Summer Savory is probably the most used of the savory species, part of the Lamiaceae family it is closely related to rosemary and thyme. It is not as bitter tasting as winter savory and as such is … Read more
Vegetable Seed Sowing Notes

Although it is still too early to sow anything I thought I would run through some seed sowing notes this week for any new growers who are unsure when or how to start growing. It will also likely be di … Read more
How To Grow Tarragon

Tarragon is a very easy to grow herb. It has a peppery slightly anise flavour to it. This is a much used herb as it goes well with most types of dish. Site and Soil Plant in a sunny or part … Read more
Creating a Microclimate in your Garden

What is a Microclimate? A microclimate is a small localised area that differs somewhat from the surrounding weather conditions, for example being warmer, more humid, windier etc. A ‘localised area’ d … Read more
How To Grow Diakon Radish

How to grow daikon radishes. Daikon is a long, white variety of radish. Also known as white radish, mooli or Oriental radish, daikon radishes can grow over a foot long. They have a crispy texture, m … Read more
How To Extend The Growing Season with a Polytunnel - Part 1: Spring

As was briefly mentioned in my mail of a couple of weeks ago, changing weather patterns can challenge our habits and our 'collective wisdom' about the traditional growing season. In recent years spri … Read more
Types of Frost Protection in the Garden

Frost, or even the spectre of frost, is something that all gardeners are wary of. While some plants are more able to withstand a spell of cold temperatures than others, a sudden freeze can do a lot o … Read more
How To Grow Spring Onions

Spring onions tend to be treated as an afterthought by most gardening books yet they are a popular crop and very useful, possibly because they are really easy to grow. Salad onions, also properly c … Read more
What Are The Best Vegetables For Children?

Persuading children to eat vegetables can be a task and a half. It’s not just stubbornness either: research shows that kids’ taste buds are simply more receptive to sweet foods. And let’s be honest - … Read more
How To Grow Winter Savory

Winter Savory is part of the Lamiaceae family, it is not used as much as summer savory anymore because of its more bitter taste. As well as many medicinal properties, winter savory goes great with … Read more
Starting seeds early in the season

As we are probably all itching to begin the growing season, I thought it might be helpful to talk about starting seeds off early and how to give the best chance of success. As we need extra warmth to … Read more
How To Grow Radishes

Radishes are a cool season vegetable that can mature very quickly. The small, round varieties will get woody if grown in hot temperatures. Planting Radishes Radishes are direct seeded in the … Read more
What is the Difference Between Open Pollinated Seeds and F1 Hybrid Seeds?

I thought I'd quickly try to explain the difference between open pollinated and F1 seeds this week, as I was asked about it twice over the last few days. I don't purport to be an expert in these matt … Read more
High Yield Vegetables

A high yield vegetable is one that produces a large amount of end product per area of planting. ‘Output’ shouldn’t be seen as the be all and end all of growing your own food, but high yield vegetable … Read more
Ultimate Guide to Vegetable Harvesting

Those of you who are subscribed to our newsletter may already be familiar with this A-Z guide that I've been gradually putting together. It's easy to find sowing times for vegetables but sometimes it … Read more
Vegepod Self Watering Raised Bed

The unique selling point of the Vegepod is that it combines some of the benefits of raised bed gardening with those of growing under cover or in a container. You can create a microclimate of sorts, o … Read more
Is Chicken Moat a Good Slug Control Method?

I suspect I'm not the only one but I am fighting a battle (and losing) with the quite unbelievable number of slugs I have this year. You can see them here this morning (below) having climbed my broad … Read more
The Vegetable Garden in May

Brace yourselves folks, we are now entering the busiest time of year in the vegetable garden. The soil has warmed sufficiently for sowing and planting out, but has also warmed enough for wee … Read more
Organic Gardening

What is Meant By Organic Gardening? You will no doubt often hear the term organic gardening or ‘gardening naturally’. What it actually means - or how strict the definition is - can be different for e … Read more
What Is Crop Rotation?

Crop rotation is a system of moving the position of certain crops (or families of crops) around so that they are not being grown in the same place for successive years. It plays an important role in a … Read more
Getting the season under way

It is still early days for sowing but there are a few plants that you can start off now, especially if you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse or polytunnel. Sowing times will differ depending on yo … Read more