Tag Archives: bees

How To Grow More Strawberries

How To Grow More Strawberries

Ask any strawberry grower what they would improve if they could and they will probably say… More fruit. Here in the UK we have a short fruiting season between frosts so it’s crucial to get as much from each plant as we can. Read on to find out how to grow more strawberries. Let’s start with the basics, because if the foundations are right then everything else should just fall into place. How To Grow More Strawberries Strawberries need free draining soil, full sunshine and to be sheltered from the wind. As with all plants the soil is the most… → Read More

How To Increase Cucumber Yield

How To Increase Cucumber Yield

Everybody wants to get the most from their plants, and if like me you grow organically, then we have to rely on nature. We can however give nature a helping hand and this is how to increase cucumber yield. All it takes is a few simple tricks to grow more cucumbers so read on for my top tips for increasing cucumber yield. How To Increase Cucumber Yield This year I’m only growing 2 cucumber plants, both in the same container and both in my unheated greenhouse. They came from a cheap packet of seeds (50p) I only sowed 2 seeds… → Read More

Flowers That Attract Bees

Flowers That Attract Bees

We need bees to help pollinate our plants and bees need flowers to survive. Growing flowers that attract bees in the vegetable garden means everybody wins. We get more produce and the bees get nectar to feed themselves and their young. Flowers That Attract Bees There are many flowers that attract bees and during a normal summer they have no problem finding food. Which is good for the bee population however, us gardeners need to be sure of pollination. We need to be proactive in creating the type of garden bees will frequent. To achieve this we have to consider… → Read More

4 Benefits Of Growing Elderberry Trees

4 Benefits Of Growing Elderberry Trees

If you think of the elderberry as just a weed tree, think again. Apart from it’s health effects on the human body, elderberry can be useful in the garden too. So here are 4 benefits of growing elderberry trees. What is a Elderberry Tree? Members of the Adoxaceae family of plants, there are several different varieties of the sambucus tree. The most common is sambucus nigra European or black elderberry. It can grow up to 30 feet ( 9 metres) in height with white flowers turning to clusters of black berries. Some grow more as shrubs than trees but they… → Read More

Companion Planting Nettles

Companion Planting Nettles

Most gardeners spend a considerable amount of time trying to eradicate nettles along with other weeds. It’s true that left to get out of control a small patch of nettles will eventually take over the plot. However companion planting nettles can be of great benefit to the organic grower. Companion Planting Nettles Nettles spread so rapidly due to their quick growing root system but if kept under control, they can be a worthwhile addition to the vegetable patch. Why Grow Nettles ? Many beneficial insects are attracted to a patch of stinging nettles including :- Ladybirds Bees Butterflies (Particularly the Red… → Read More

How To Attract Pollinators To Your Garden

How to attract pollinators to your Garden

As the EU decides to ban the use of neonicotinoids in all member states by the end of this year it is our job as gardeners to increase the depleting numbers of pollinators. So how to attract pollinators to your garden and why to attract pollinators to your garden? What Are Neonicotinoids? Neonicotinoids are a group of pesticides that have been used in the commercial farming industry since the early 1990s. Ironically they were developed as a “safer” solution to the  problems caused by large scale, monocrop farming. They are a systematic pesticide and are absorbed by the whole of… → Read More

How To Grow Poached Egg Plants In Pots

How To Grow Poached Egg Plants In Pots

Poached Egg plants are such a useful plant to grow in your vegetable patch. Even if you don’t have a large garden and you grow all your plants in pots it is still a very beneficial plant to grow. So here’s  how to grow poached egg plants in pots. What Is A Poached Egg Plant? The poached egg plant ( Limnanthes douglasii ) is an annual plant but as it produces so many seeds gets classed as a perennial. It’s common name comes from the flower, a bright yellow centre surrounded with white petals which looks like a poached or fried… → Read More

Growing Plants For Pollinators And Why It’s Important

Growing plants for pollinators and why it's important

In this post, I explore the reasons for growing plants for pollinators and why it’s important for your garden or vegetable plot. It is also important for the conservation of wildlife. There are reports that bees are on the decline worldwide, so any help we as growers can offer must be a good thing. Growing Plants For Pollinators And Why It’s Important According to the Bumble bee conservation trust, two species of bumble bee have become extinct in the UK since the start of the twentieth century. With another two species of bee in danger of imminent extinction. Theories as… → Read More

Gardeners friends

Gardeners friends

Whilst weeding the onion beds the other morning I noticed I was being shadowed by a robin, it’s a marvellous feeling to me, to be at one with nature. The robin knew that I was no threat to him and even if I was he wasn’t that close, but as I was turning the soil with a fork he was following on pecking any grubs that I exposed. That’s just fine by me as I grow organically so any help I can get to keep the pest population down is always welcome. Any way it got me thinking about othergardeners… → Read More