520 results

The Spring Vegetable Garden, Looking After Your Soil.

You know when you meet someone at a party who you've never met before you have to try quite hard not to ask them what they 'do' to get the conversation going? Similarly it's nigh on impossible not … 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 Cauliflower

The cauliflower is not the easiest of the brassica family to grow but a large white cauliflower with tight white curds is a thing of beauty and producing one a source of much satisfaction. Variety is … Read more
How to Grow Beetroot

Beetroot is one of my best friends in the garden as we get so much out of it: using it for juicing, grating it for salads, roasting, baking and - my favourite of all - pickling. This crop has recentl … Read more
How to Design a Garden Pond

Like so many garden projects designing a pond requires careful planning. There are so many options to consider depending on use, size, shape, material and situation. A careful compromise of these fact … Read more
Making your own 'Black Gold' with the new Subpod Wormery

We talked a couple of weeks ago about how adding well rotted organic matter to your garden soil is the number one way to grow the best vegetables. One of the key ingredients is your own home produced … Read more
An introduction to school vegetable gardening

Remember Quickcrop give all schools 10% discount on all orders, please call us to receive your unique school code. Contact Andrew at 01788 298 795. An Introduction to School Vegetable Growing S … Read more
How To Grow Kale (Italian)

'Cavolo Nero' or 'Nero Di Toscana' is the only kale grown in Italy, simply because it is by far the best tasting kale. Its large strap like leaves are fantastic in a stir fry with excellent taste a … Read more
A Beginner's Guide to Keeping Chickens

In recent years more and more households - both rural and urban - have decided to keep backyard chickens or poultry. As well as being a source of ‘homemade’ fresh eggs, it’s something that brings a l … Read more
Cookies Policy

    Cookies are small pieces of information that are stored on your computer when you visit some websites. They do not harm your computer – instead they are used to analyse the way you... … Read more
Gaby Wieland on Wheatgrass

Researching the benefits of drinking wheatgrass juice has to be one of the most challenging tasks as opinions vary wildly from one side to the other. The problem for me is that the more ardent support … Read more
How To Attract Beneficial Insects To Your Garden

Garden pests are the scourge of many a gardener - it can feel like they’re taunting you and all your careful work as they infest, burrow into and devour crops or plants. In these kinds of scenarios i … Read more
New Quickcrop Tulip Selection

This week sees a whole new departure for the Quickcrop team as we stick our pretty little toes into the wonderful world of flowering plants. It is not that we have fallen out of love with our vegetabl … Read more
Recognising The Most Common Annual Garden Weeds

Common garden weeds are a large part of our gardens, and need to be identified before they manage to sow seed and multiply. If you keep a strict and thorough weeding regime, this particular chore … Read more
Functional Nutrition Basics Part 2 – Digestion

‘You are what you eat and absorb’ is more accurate than the saying ‘you are what you eat’. More than 2,000 years ago Hippocrates stated that all disease starts in the gut, but we’re only now coming to … Read more
Wildflower Meadow Maintenance

While a wildflower meadow requires less maintenance and upkeep than a large lawn, it is still a managed habitat and will need attention at strategic times of the year. Once it is fully established an … Read more
What Tools Do I Need To Start a Vegetable Garden?

Just what tools and supplies are needed to start a vegetable garden? There are a multitude of tools available out there for absolutely any eventuality in the garden, and looking at such a long list ca … Read more
Gardening tips for dry weather

With the Met Office promising a heatwave for the coming week, the thoughts of many gardeners will naturally turn to irrigation and how best to help our plants through the hot days. Here in Ireland we … Read more
A Guide To Planting Bare Root Trees

As regular readers will know, I had to take down over half of my trees due to ash die back disease. Sadly, that has left my little patch of land looking very different and in need of some repair. I m … Read more
New Perennial Style Planting Plans

Right then. For the last while I have been both adding to our list of flowering perennial plants and working on planting plants and corresponding plant packs. As the year so far has been nuts, progres … Read more
Soil health, plant feed & pruning fruit.

I know I have looked at soil and plant feeds a number of times over the years but, for the benefit of new growers, I think it may be helpful to cover it again today as we prepare our gardens for a new … Read more
Gardening With Raised Beds: Frequently Asked Questions

We are often asked about the pros and cons of raised bed gardening, and how raised bed kits can help you overcome space or soil limitations. And since there's a good chance you're asking yours … Read more
Best watering practices for vegetable growers

Water is necessary to sustain all living life forms, we are made up of about 60% water while herbaceous plants like the vegetables growing in your garden contain between 80 and 95%. Plants use water t … Read more
How To Make a Wildlife Pond

Honestly, do you ever think about how weird it is that ‘pond life’ has become a derogatory phrase and insult, when actual pond life contains some of the most fascinating and beautiful creatures you w … Read more
Sowing Chillies in February - How to Grow Chilli Peppers.

Not too chilly for growing chillies! You don't need me to tell you that we are having a wet and windy February. So far we have dealt with high winds and heavy rain and, if the forecast is correct, we … Read more
Preparing the Vegetable Garden for Winter

Right, well it's started to get a bit cold and the leaves are falling so I suppose we will have to admit that winter is coming. I have mentioned it here before that I am not a winter fan. This is pri … Read more
Unusual Fruit and Vegetables to Grow in a Polytunnel

When it comes to polytunnel growing, there tends to be something of a consensus around which crops are reliable staples in a temperate climate such as in the UK. Indeed you will have probably heard u … Read more
Garden Pests & How To Deal With Them

Vegetable Garden Pests Seeing your vegetable crops decimated by garden pests can be a very disheartening sight and it can happen seemingly overnight if proper preventative methods aren't applied. Onc … Read more
Sowing & growing tomatoes

In case you are new to vegetable growing, I feel I should point out that tomatoes need heat throughout their lifecycle, both to germinate and grow healthy seedlings and to produce ripe fruit. Growers … Read more
Bee Friendly Gardening

Bees are essential to the health of our ecosystems, food supplies and economies. These quietly industrious insects have a mutually beneficial relationship with countless wildflowers and food crops, s … Read more
An introduction to pruning apple trees

The best time to prune apple trees is in late winter or very early spring before any new growth starts. The tree takes up a dormant state after shedding its leaves and before sprouting new buds. … 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
Planting Summer Flowering Bulbs

Many of you will have noticed it is no longer Autumn, so clearly planting tulips and daffodils aren't an option at the moment. The great news is there are a whole range of Spring-planted bulbs like d … Read more
October 2020 in the Quickcrop Garden

While I am not a fan of of winter I do enjoy preparing for it. There is great satisfaction in harvesting and storing crops in October, protecting beds from heavy rain and generally putting the place i … Read more
Growing Fruit in Containers

So, the other week, I had an email from a customer asking for advice on what soil mix to use for planting fruit trees in containers. It was a simple question which should have resulted in a quick r … Read more
The Benefits of Mulching in the Garden

Mulching is the practice of covering the soil surface with a layer of material to protect your plants or to insulate or improve your garden soil. It’s a widely used technique in landscaping and agric … Read more
How to prune mature apple trees

This article covers pruning old and neglected fruit trees, if you would like to learn how to prune younger or freshly planted trees please read ' An introduction to pruning apple trees'. I get … Read more
Irrigation in the Vegetable Garden

Regular watering and sensible irrigation is essential to the development and healthy growth of any plant. Water is drawn from the root of the plant and transported through its capillary system, … Read more