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

The garden isn’t just for working in - it’s also a great place to sit and gather your thoughts, soak in the ambience of nature, or relax in the outdoors with friends. Wooden garden benches are ... Read more

You have spent the season nurturing your precious crops, fighting off pests and diseases and making sure your fruit and vegetables have the best conditions to live, thrive and survive. Now the mom ... Read more

Now is the time to turn your attention to your herb garden to ensure that your herbs stand the best chance of making it through whatever weather winter has in store for us as well as making sure t ... Read more

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

If you have your own apple trees of any reasonable size you will know that despite your best intentions the only journey many of the apples make is when they fall to the ground. And stay there. You m ... Read more

If your garden is anything like mine you've been reaping the rewards of the good weather with a fantastic crop of fresh vegetables. So much worked for me this year it was almost as if someone else ... Read more

The humble cucumber is perhaps the single most popular food to use for pickles, so much so that over in the States the word ‘pickle’ pretty much means ‘pickled cucumber’. We’re a little more sp ... Read more

Saving your own vegetable seeds in order to plant them again the following year (or even later) is a very worthwhile and rewarding activity - make no mistake. It’s something that has been practiced b ... Read more

Sleep is something many of us take for granted and don’t give a second thought to, but for others it’s a huge obstacle in their life. Sleep deprivation actually has more negative effects on our healt ... Read more

Growing your own food provides many benefits to both our physical and mental health. There are many resources available online that go in to great detail about the various nutritional information and ... Read more

I always liked beetroot anyway but since my wife started making a salad with roasted beetroot and feta cheese my interest in growing them reached new heights. I have been improving my garden soil ... Read more

I am afraid we have had to close the Quickcrop site for 3 days and not taking any new orders until Friday. As I think I explained last week we are down to a small team of core staff who are doing all ... Read more

Swede is one of the easiest vegetables to grow and is well-suited to the novice gardener. They also crop over a very long time because they can be left in the soil throughout the winter.  ... Read more

I sometimes throw my vegetable garden a guilty look as I skip past it on my way to the fruit cage or down to look at my young apple trees. The vegetable garden, though not as glamorous, does the heav ... 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

If you are thinking about building some raised vegetable beds to make you kitchen garden a whole lot easier to manage you might want to consider our revolutionary new raised bed joining brackets. 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

Camomile (also spelled Chamomile), it is a herb most commonly used for its relaxing properties, it has long narrow leaves with attractive daisy-like flowers. It is quite an easy plant to grow for ... Read more

It is rare that my wife and I agree on anything but I was pleasantly surprised when my liking for pickled vegetables converged neatly with her interest in the health benefits of home fermented pro ... Read more

Outdoor or patio furniture makes for a great addition to your garden, allowing you to spend time in the fresh air with family or just sit and soak in the serenity. With some items of furniture it’ ... Read more

Seeing as I mentioned my new orchard in the last post I might as well add a little information on caring for new fruit trees. Getting trees established well has a big impact on future fruiting so ... Read more

Urban Planters / Container Gardening for vegetable growers. An image blog post. Wooden Wine Boxes make great little planters for herbs and salads.             & ... Read more

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 quic ... Read more

UK Vegetable Gardening In Raised Bed Kits Raised bed vegetable gardening in the UK is becoming more popular than ever before with increasing numbers of people growing their own food, especia ... 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

Tips on propagating vegetable seedlings 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 frui ... Read more

Hi there and a Happy New Year to you all! So, Andrew asked me to do a series of articles about nutrition and everyday health, I’m a Nutritional Therapist so I guess he thought I'd be a good person to ... Read more

Garden arches are a great way of adding some vertical character to your garden or outdoors. They can be used to provide support for climbing plants or serve as an entrance or archway between di ... Read more

Raised vegetable beds have a number of benefits, including protecting crops from foot traffic and creating a more comfortable working height. Another benefit is how versatile and adaptable they are. Read more

Harvesting homegrown vegetables can be just as important as growing them as some crops can quickly go past their best and loose precious flavour and texture. Harvesting at just the right time is impo ... Read more

Tomatoes are easy to grow and are becoming a more and more popular crop. A couple of tomato plants will keep you in fresh tomatoes all summer long. Since now is the time to start sowing them, we have ... Read more

Edible landscaping or foodscaping is the practice of interspersing ornamental plant displays with edible crops, often in a way that creates a lush and colourful variety of foliage. There’s a tendency ... 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

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

Frost is the first thought when considering where to grow strawberry plants in your garden. They are very hardy plants during the winter but are not so hardy when they burst into life in spring. S ... 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

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

Garden Update I am making some progress in the garden this week with a few tips coming to mind which hopefully you will find helpful.The first tip I have is get a tractor! Readers from last Autumn m ... Read more

Peas are well-suited to cooler temperate climates. In fact, when temperatures exceed 20C (70F), most varieties of peas will stop producing pods. Peas are part of the legume (Latin Leguminosae) ... 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

If you're familiar with the Quickcrop garden diary, you may have noticed the low timber fence around my vegetable plot, which is supposed to keep things looking neat and tidy but has got very r ... Read more

Why Plant Bare Root Trees?Everyone seems to be talking about trees these days and with good reason. They are one of the single most effective ways to take carbon out of the atmosphere and help slow g ... Read more

Growing your own fruit has to be the easiest, most satisfying and most joyous gardening pursuit. Yes, I am delighted when I fork out some nice straight carrots or creamy skinned potatoes but do th ... Read more

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, ... 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

A finish generally refers to a coating which you can apply to your garden furniture to add extra protection, improve its weather resistance or retain its visual appeal. This can be done just af ... Read more

OK, so while we are going to show you how to build a pond it might not be something quite as elaborate as the one above. Our expertise is providing manageable pond sizes which can be put together ... Read more

I don't think I ever showed you my garden did I? It was originally put together as the shared Quickcrop garden but since the business moved from my house this Spring (it used to be housed in my barn ... 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

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 gard ... Read more

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 th ... Read more

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. &nb ... 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

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 put ... Read more

Plant propagation is creating new plants from existing plants, this can be done using seeds, bulbs, taking cuttings from existing plants, and dividing roots. Taking cuttings is by far the easiest way ... Read more

Onions are one of the most popular vegetables for growing in home gardens and are one of the first crops of spring. They can be stored over winter thus making a versatile crop. They are used in a ... Read more

If you're staring off your vegetable plants in early Spring you'll need to give them some heat as temperatures will be too cold for the seeds to germinate. If you're growing in a greenhouse or pol ... Read more

As you can see from the image above our seed potatoes for this year have now arrived and are looking forward to going out to their new homes. We have the usual broad selection of varieties with th ... Read more

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 ... 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

I quite like February, it's a bit of a renegade. Not only does it have a different number of days than any other month but it also reserves the right to change that date on a leap year. It is the mon ... 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

Growing Carrots Get the soil conditions correct and carrots are one of the easiest vegetables to grow in the cooler climates. Incorrect soil conditions lead to misshapen carrots - th ... Read more

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 ... Read more

How times have changed regarding the use of wild foods in our diet, since Wild and Free:  Cooking from Nature, written by my late husband, Cyril and I was first published in 1975.  Forag ... Read more

Most people (including me until relatively recently) think of a small, round, pink variety when picturing a radish, usually either sliced or added whole to a garden salad. You may also remember the h ... 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

If you are considering building a garden pond you may want to calculate the volume of water for water treatment or if you intend to introduce fish. Water treatments to clear algae and other issues ar ... Read more

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 “mustar ... Read more

As you will know from my fascinating communication a week or so ago we are now in the season for putting in bare root plants including fruit trees, hedging and roses. Bare root season makes the winte ... Read more

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 h ... 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

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 ... Read more

We are now moving into the time of year when we start to sow seeds (for those of you not reading this article 'hot from the oven' it is the beginning of February) so I figured it may be helpful to wr ... 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

While a greenhouse shouldn’t need to be cleaned quite as much as a 'human house', it is very important to schedule a good cleaning session once or twice a year. Ideal times for carrying out ... Read more

A comprehensive article on How to grow Artichokes (Jerusalem variety). Artichokes area very easy crop to grow but be careful as they are very hard to get rid of once established! Delicious ... Read more

If you were alive 144 million years ago, you wouldn't need to worry about providing winter food for wild birds because you would have been on the menu yourself. It might be hard to believe wh ... 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

Pumpkins have a special appeal for both adults and children, especially at Halloween. The carved pumpkin outside the front door - or being carried house to house as a lantern - is an establishe ... Read more

By Mark Ridsdill SmAny bright space, be it patio, balcony, roof terrace or window sill can become a productive and rewarding food garden.This is the first in a monthly series of tips on how you can g ... Read more

When we move towards the end of July and into early August, it can be easy to think that the time for sowing new crops has passed. To be fair that's true for most things, with the garden no ... 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

Lovely long slender stems, this variety makes a lovely, tasty baby leek for harvesting from mid summer onward. The flavour is no less impressive when eaten full size in the autumn. The leek is ... 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

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 ... 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

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

Garden furniture is often designed or bought with relaxation or solitary ‘me time’ in mind, but that’s far from the only option. The garden can be a great place to entertain, have guests around for a ... Read more

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 vegetab ... Read more

For me potatoes are the backbone of the vegetable garden. If you get the seed potatoes in relatively early, there is very little to do apart from earthing up and keeping an eye out for blig ... Read more

Rainwater harvesting has become more popular and more common in the UK in recent years. Whether in response to hosepipe bans and water shortages, or in anticipation of climate change and future droug ... Read more

I hope this morning finds you all well and that the current restrictions aren't bothering you too much. I must admit I am itching to do something outside the home / work loop but am still feeling ver ... 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

Tomatoes are one of the most rewarding crops for the home gardener to grow, simply because their flavour is so much better than their shop-bought cousins. Tomatoes grown for the supermarket shel ... Read more

A greenhouse is very effective at what it does, but to keep it working to the best of its abilities you should keep on top of any maintenance issues that may arise. Keep a sharp eye on things l ... Read more

I asked my wife Siobhan to have a go at documenting her chutney making endeavours with the following results, go Siobhan! The English made chutneys their own after the traders brought back thes ... Read more

Gooseberry Bushes How to grow gooseberries. Ranging from huge, juicy, red dessert fruit to tiny, sparkling, golden drops of sweetness, gooseberries are a great, easy to grow choice. This section al ... Read more

Gardening has been going on in some shape or form since time immemorial, so it’s natural that garden tools tend to follow a traditional design depending on what task they’re designed for. After ... Read more