If you don't have a patch of soil to grow in then clearly you will have to grow your vegetables in a container of some sort. A container grown urban garden adds life to your balcony or back yard a ... Read more

As bin charges increase and households try to be more environment friendly, we are seeing a corresponding increase in home composting. We have been interested in domestic composting for a lon ... Read more

I thought it might be a good idea to follow last week's mail on sowing seeds with some notes on seed and potting compost. It might seem like a boring subject but knowing your compost will become incr ... Read more

If you're looking for a composting solution that's somewhere between a traditional static pile and the larger insulated composters, The Thermo range of composters have a lot to offer. Produced ... Read more

I’m not saying to forget about your compost heap, this is just another method and has its pros and cons. We still recommend using a compost bin from our fabulous range of products, see this method as ... Read more

Plastic may have taken much of the attention in recent times, but food waste continues to be a pressing issue affecting the environment.  Recent statistics show that the UK throws away r ... Read more

Why Compost in the first place? Composting is the best thing you can do for your vegetable garden. It is the natural process that returns the nutrients used by growing plants back to the soi ... Read more

Whether it’s homegrown or store-bought, compost plays a vital role in the health of your soil, and healthy soil makes for healthy plant growth. But you may be asking yourself: What ... Read more

It is conventional wisdom that you should discard used potting compost but, given that we are all trying to be more  sustainable, I think we should review this advice.  Unless you ... Read more

Hello and welcome back to the Quickcrop garden. Well, it’s a beautiful day in mid September and today we are going to build one of our large New Zealand Box composters. This the area where my o ... Read more

One of the best (and the most fun) ways to make compost is back! Innovators that we are, we had taken in a small stock of these sturdy compost bins last year but due to problems with the European dis ... Read more

Home composting is a fantastic way of killing two birds with one stone. You can process garden and kitchen waste (and reduce your bin collection costs) while at the same time producing your ... Read more

The soil or compost you use in your school vegetable garden is the single most important part of the project. Vegetables are demanding as plants go, after all we we expect quick growth and lots of cr ... Read more

Can potato plants with late blight be composted? If care is taken the answer is yes. Blight spores can only survive on living plant tissue, once the foliage has been cut it will die and so will ... Read more

If you read any of the guff I write you will probably have heard me mention Charles Dowding before. He's a bit of a hero of mine basically because his book 'Organic Gardening - The Natural No Dig ... Read more

We are nearly at that time again when we sow some tiny seeds in compost and see them magically transform into large tomato plants bearing 15-20 kg of fruit each. The whole thing is incredible reall ... Read more

Soil is the foundation of any vegetable garden, if it is treated well it will reward you. Year by year soil needs to to accommodate the demands of cultivation and the weather. Here are some suppl ... Read more

You might remember from a post a few weeks back that we are now manufacturing the fabulous 'Gro-Grid' weed control planting mat. We have the machinery set up in our warehouse and have been building u ... Read more

Last week I touched on succession sowing and said I would include my plan for this year and, being very organised these days (new years resolution), I am pleased to include it below. Not all of th ... Read more

Preparing your soil is an important step that shouldn’t be skipped when setting up your first polytunnel. Trying to do intensive digging or soil amendment work can be an awkward task once t ... Read more

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

I had the pleasure on Monday evening to give my very first talk to a gardening club. It was all very professional with a projector for my (first ever) Powerpoint presentation and a microphone s ... Read more

Collecting autumn leaves may seem like another garden tidying task to add to the list, but they are actually a valuable resource for the vegetable gardener. When rotted they make an excellent m ... Read more

I'm not sure what the weather is like where you are but it has been dry in the Quickcrop garden for the last week which means the soil is dry enough to work. As you probably know, digging saturated s ... Read more

After a wet week last week, the weekend looked promising (well, Sunday at least) to get some work done in the garden and start preparing it for the Winter. As you may know, my garden is in an area of ... Read more

I just took the picture on the left out the window of the office, it doesn't look quite as dramatic as it did in real life but does show that weird Autumn light we sometimes get this time of year. It ... Read more

Getting Started   Unlike other countries in the world we just don't get the weather to grow chilli peppers successfully outdoors. It is possible but the results and cropping levels aren ... Read more

What kinds of things can you do in the garden at this time of year. It’s not quite Spring after all? Well, no, we’ve still a long way to go before we get to Spring. This time of year is really all a ... Read more

Mackerel sky Before we get going, here's a photo I took on Monday morning while out walking the dog showing a pretty 'mackerel sky' which, as you know, signals a change in the weather. The old sailo ... Read more

Garden soil comes in many forms depending on consistency and nutrient content. By identifying and understanding the type of soil you have you can create a workable medium suitable for cultivation. Read more

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 ... Read more

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

Depending on your location early potatoes are planted in mid March once the days begin to warm. To be fair, the soil is probably warm enough to plant now in most gardens but what you need to be ca ... Read more

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) ... Read more

Using growbags couldn’t be easier, here is how to grow potatoes in a bag. The great thing about potatoes is that they can be grown almost anywhere, even if space is limited like in an urban setting. Read more

I have two books which are my vegetable growing bibles. One is Joy Larkcom's 'Grow Your Own Vegetables' and the other is 'Organic Gardening - The Natural No-Dig Way' by Charles Dowding. Both are f ... Read more

Well, here we go again, another new year and another new season beginning in the vegetable garden! I really do love the fresh start a new season brings. Past blunders are forgotten and a fabulous new ... Read more

It is has been an interesting year in the Quickcrop garden with a hot and dry start followed by plenty of rain. The overcast or rainy days have not been much use for ripening tomatoes but has been gr ... Read more

It is incredible just how fast the season slips by, I can't believe it's September already! The final part of the season got away from me a bit (broken collarbone) but luckily work done earlier ... Read more

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 ... Read more

Chard is basically a beet without the bottom. It's a biennial that is grown as an annual for its big crinkly leaves. The stalks are red or white with large, dark green leaves that can be used as s ... Read more

As we are coming into the main planting and sowing time I thought I would cover soil and plant feed as they are such an important part of the garden. I know I covered feed in January but I have bee ... Read more

Growing your own can be tricky business for someone new to vegetable gardening but there are a number of ways you can stack the odds of a successful harvest in your favour. My number one would be ... Read more

You’ve probably seen the word 'sustainable' a fair bit, but we wouldn’t blame you if you’re not entirely sure what it means. With the way it’s used, it can sometimes seem like another word ... Read more

I am sure you are sick of seeing pictures of my potatoes by now but I ended up digging out another barrow full of them on Sunday while I prepared a bed for Summer cabbage. According to the weather fo ... Read more

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 we ... Read more

You may remember some of the vibrant looking photos from my vegetable garden in the Summer with its neat (ish) rows of healthy crops and tidy weeded paths? Well, it looks nothing like that now. I am ... Read more

A new year brings with it the temptation to mix things up in the garden, expand your growing ambitions or simply fine-tune the way you do things. I myself spent a fun few hours on Friday plannin ... Read more

Due to a relatively dry end to last week I had thought the worst of the weather was over. I said as much on Facebook (and nearly caused an International incident) but today, it seems, the rain is bac ... Read more

Growing garlic is both easy and satisfying: it's well-suited to both the first time gardener and the more experienced. A haul of freshly harvested garlic is a beautiful thing, especially wh ... Read more

July in the garden is a bit of a double edged sword, Mother nature shows her muscles both in the vigourous growth from your vegetable crops but also in the vigourous growth from your weeds. While you ... Read more

We recently decided to tackle some of the gardening FAQs that we get asked most frequently on this blog. Can I grow vegetables indoors? is one of those questions that pops up all the time and the ... Read more

Courgettes are easy to grow with two plants producing ample courgettes for most families. Courgettes are best picked small for best flavour, these plants are also very prolific so don't worry ther ... Read more

Well, it's August again in the Quickcrop garden (and elsewhere I suspect) so I thought we'd take our customary stroll around to see what's growing and hopefully offer some advice on some of my fruit ... Read more

A member of the onion family, chives are well worth cultivating in the vegetable and flower garden. They take up very little space, and the whole plant can be eaten from top to bottom - the bulbs ... Read more

Small Garden Ideas Vegetable growing should be available to anyone even if you have have a very small urban garden or worse, no garden at all! Small urban gardens can be just as productive as larger ... Read more

Growing Peppers Peppers and chillis are expensive when bought in the shops so growing your own is an economical exercise which also brings great pleasure. They are tropical plants and therefore app ... Read more

Broad beans are the simplest thing to grow. They are hardy and produce a large crop of delicious beans. I prefer to pick them young for a sweeter bean which are lovely tossed into a salad. Read more

Growing garlic is one of my favourite jobs in the vegetable garden. It is pretty much trouble free to grow and adds wonderful flavours to our home cooking. Homegrown garlic comes in a wide rang ... Read more

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 ... Read more

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 ... Read more

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 ... Read more

Cucumber plants are either vining varieties with long vines or bush varieties with shorter vines. Cucumbers may be planted in hills or grown on supports such as trellises, fences, or stakes. Choos ... Read more

Know Your Broccoli! In Italian the word broccoli means 'little sprouts'. It is part of the Brassica family of vegetables, which also includes cauliflower, cabbages, Brussels sprouts, ... Read more

Fennel is easy to grow. They prefer full sun and a well drained soil. They will do best in rich soils.Water them during dry periods, once or twice per week. Add a general purpose fertilizer once o ... Read more

One of the things first time vegetable gardeners ask about when they call or email us is tomatoes - everyone wants to grow their own tomatoes. This is a bit unfortunate as for the most part they a ... Read more

Cabbage is a demanding plant both is the amount of nutrients it needs and the space it takes up in the garden. It really is easy to grow if you feed your soil properly to begin with and take preca ... Read more

While you won't be able to fool yourself that you are lying on a beach with a pina colada (Ingredients: 3 parts Pineapple juice, 1 part White rum, 1 part Coconut cream) in your hand, you will be able ... Read more

We can't all be blessed with a large outdoor garden space, and so it is that growing vegetables in containers can be an effective way of tackling space limitations. That doesn't mean you nee ... Read more

Growing carrots in containers can be more successful than you would expect, and it is a great way to begin growing your own food at home. Patio planters or containers make for a great wa ... Read more

Last week I filmed the first in a series of over 200 videos which will become the backbone of our new Quickcrop vegetable growers course. This epic learning experience will cover all the cr ... Read more

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 a ... Read more

Squash plants are closely related to cucumbers, courgettes and marrows, and are a member of the same family, curcurbit. Squash plants come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and include butternut s ... Read more

Spring cabbage is delicious and tender and will be one of the first proper crops you can enjoy in the Spring. Remember Spring cabbage needs to be planted the previous Autumn to over winter and pro ... Read more

Cabbage is a demanding plant from the amount of nutrients it needs and the space it takes up in the garden. It really is easy to grow if you feed your soil properly to begin with and take precauti ... Read more

Celeriac is a cool-season biennial grown as an annual. It is similar in growing habit and requirements as celery. Celeriac is best when it comes to harvest in cool weather. It is best started indo ... Read more

Soil and Site Any moderately fertile moisture retentive soil is good. A sheltered semi shade position is ideal. Rotation Oriental salads are part of the brassica rotation Sowing Oriental ... Read more

Blueberries are delicious and extremely high in antioxidants which is why it is regarded as a super food. Plants are easy to grow provided you use an acidic or 'ericaceous' compost. Site and ... Read more

Blackcurrants are easy-to-grow bushes that produce bunches of dark purple to black fruits in mid-summer. They have a tart flavour, are an invaluable source of vitamin C and can be used in pies ... Read more

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 ... Read more

Blueberries are high in antioxidants so widely regarded as a 'Superfruit' (whatever that is) but taking their health benefits apart they are also exceptionally tasty so well worth growing yourself. A ... Read more

Caraway, also known as Persian Cumin or Meridian Fennel, is part of the carrot family and similar in appearance too. It has aromatic leaves and tasty seeds which are used in a wide range of Europe ... Read more

The trick with growing celery is to take a lot of care sowing your transplants, making sure the plants never get stressed or pot bound. When planted out remember celery is originally a ... Read more

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

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

Rhubarb is a very easy plant to grow. If you get the conditions right at the start it will be relatively trouble free for many years. It is a plant that looks fantastic in the vegetable garden wit ... Read more

Lettuce is a favorite in the garden because it is relatively easy to grow, is one of the first crops that can be planted, and is one of the first crops to yield in the spring. It doesn’t take ... Read more

I guess it is important to say from the outset that herbs are very easy to grow. Considering what they add in flavour and how often you will use them they are probably the best value plants in the ... Read more

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

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 ... Read more

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 da ... Read more

'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 ... Read more

The number of people having a go at producing some of there own fresh produce is on the increase every year. The latest revolution is the small space urban gardener, who takes advantage of ever ... Read more

As you may know my preference for most plants is to sow indoors in modular trays as you have a much greater chance of success. Freshly germinated seeds sown outdoors can be demolished overnight by ... Read more

Climbing peas and beans are some of my favourite crops in the vegetable garden, they are the ones that epitomise Summer with their attractive flowers and lush growth. There is something 'active' abou ... Read more

Variety is important! Coriander (Cilantro) can be either grown for its leaves or for its seeds. Varieties have been bred to be better at producing one or the other so the variety you choose is impo ... Read more

How To Plant & Grow Calabrese   The supermarkets have helped to confuse the issue of what is broccoli and what a calabrese by calling both by either name. The large green heads you see ... Read more

Pak Choi (also called bok choy) is a mild flavoured Oriental vegetable in the same family as Chinese cabbage, Tatsoi and Wong Bok which are all grown the same way. Pak Choi can be eaten raw, stir ... Read more

Towards the end of summer and into autumn activity in the vegetable garden slows down as crops are fully grown and their fruit begins to ripen. Winter brassicas are bedded in till spring and the w ... Read more

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