Author Archives: Steve Jones

Growing squashes

selection of squashes from the plot

To my mind nothing is more pleasurable than successfully growing squashes.Squashes are relatively easy to grow, they pretty much all require the same things so I’ll bunch all of the following together; Courgettes Marrows Pumpkins Butternuts Cucumbers Patty pans Growing squashes Plant squash seeds in compost and start off about six weeks before last expected frosts where I am (Essex) this is usually late March. I grow one seed in a small pot then pot on as they develop usually I have to pot on three times before it is time to plant outside and the plants are usually quite well established… → Read More

Crop rotation

Crop Rotation I like to grow my produce organically (without any chemical intervention). So to keep disease at bay I rotate my crops by the four crop rotation system. This sounds complex but is actually quite simple. Imagine that the above image is the plot, in the blue section (1) plant potatoes and tomatoes and squashes then in the green section (2) plant brassicas, in the brown section (3) plant roots and in the yellow section (4) plant legumes. Then in the following year move round by one degree so in (1) plant roots, in (2) plant potatoes etc. in… → Read More

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

Pots that don’t cost a fortune

Newspaper pot

Everything these days is expensive, and also the more we consume the more we damage the environment. So I recycle where I can, if we have yogurts I save the pots, pierce a hole in the bottom with a screw for drainage and I’ve got a pot to start a seed off in. As we often have yogurt I have a steady supply of pots that don’t cost a fortune. If we buy mushrooms from a supermarket I reuse the plastic container as a seed tray. The clear plastic containers make great mini greenhouses placed on top of seed trays…. → Read More

What’s happened to the peas

The no show peas

About a month ago I sowed three rows of peas (Kelvedon wonder) and having just inspected the plot I only have about eight seedlings. So where have they gone? Whats happened to them? What’s happened to the peas? I expected thirty or so seedlings, so I did some research. Peas are a source of food for birds in all stages of their life, seeds, seedlings, plants and pea pods. Well I knew this and I netted the pea bed at the same time as sowing. Mice and other rodents also feed on peas but there is no evidence of… → Read More

Container veg growing

Most vegetables can be grown in containers. The bigger the container the better, I had best results with old flower buckets (morrisons sell them eight for a pound) fill with a good quality compost and feed and water regularly as pots and containers dry out quickly in dry spells. I have grown:- carrots calabrese cauliflower courgettes spring onions broad beans runner beans dwarf beans tomatoes turnips radishes potatoes peas with varied results. I found that courgettes grow well if the container is big enough, other squashes however, didn’t do so well I suspect that they need more space. I have also grown potatoes… → Read More

Square foot gardening

my square foot garden

If space is at a premium or you don’t want to garden on a big scale but you do want to grow the maximum amount of vegetables in the smallest area, then square foot gardening might be for you. Square Foot Gardening The square foot gardening system was developed in the ’80s by an American architect to maximise the amount grown in the least space and also to save seed wastage and minimise weeding and watering. The system works by taking an area of land and dividing it up into square feet patches. The optimum size is four foot by four… → Read More

Companion planting

poached egg plant with beans

There is a lot to be gained for the organic grower from companion planting which is basically planting something with something else as either a sacrificial crop or as a deterrent to insects or as an attractor for predatory (good) insects. For instance growing nasturtiums alongside brassicas, the insects that attack should go for the nasturtiums meaning the majority of the brassica plants are unscathed. In fact nasturtiums are a good companion to lots of plants including:- all brassicas Potatoes Radishes Turnips Courgettes marigolds are good companion to quite a few plants including Tomatoes Potatoes Lettuces Beans Parsley is good to plant with Asparagus…. → Read More

Environmental matters

I have always tried to keep my carbon footprint light. When I was a greengrocer I tried to source my produce locally and where ever possible from an organic farm/smallholding. So it stands to reason that now I am growing my own, I strive to grow organically. If you consider my shed, it was constructed from second hand or scrap materials. My nets to deter butterfly infestation are made from old scaffolding netting. The supports for the netting are made from parts of an old trampoline base and the rest are from the tubular posts from plastic greenhouses that were to… → Read More

Getting your hands dirty

Theory is fine but you can’t beat getting your hands dirty. I have found that the best way to learn anything is to do it, not read about it or talk about it. So with that in mind just have a go whether you just want to plant a few pots up or you want to fill a plot the size of a football pitch you have to start somewhere. I am trying to cover the basics here but the best way to learn is to do. So just start small and after you have harvested your first organically grown… → Read More