Tag Archives: courgettes

Blossom End Rot What Is It and What To Do About It

Many gardeners are affected by blossom end rot, and it’s heart breaking to see your tomatoes inedible due to this damage. Don’t despair, it’s not all doom and gloom, and in most cases it’s an easy fix. So read on to find out how to identify it and how to deal with it. What Is The Blossom End? The blossom end is the end of the fruit furthest away from where the stalk joins the plant. It is literally the end the blossom was attached to, and that’s where we get blossom end rot. What Is Blossom End Rot? Blossom… → Read More

zucchini Turning Yellow And Rotting

Sadly this is a common problem and you’d be a very fortunate gardener if you never suffered this at some time. Don’t despair, things will improve and once you understand the problem you can start to solve it. So read on to see what you can do about zucchini (courgettes) turning yellow and rotting. Why Are My Zucchini Turning Yellow? There are a few answers to this question, some are more serious than others and some have easy cures. So the easiest and obvious one is there are yellow varieties of zucchini and if this is the case you don’t… → Read More

What To Plant In A Planting Box

My son recently set me up with a vegtrug to make growing vegetables and watering easier for me. After he put it all together I planted it up and now he’s made me a planting box. So what to plant in a planting box. What To Plant In A Planting Box My post entitled vegtrug planting guide gives all the information about what I’ve planted in there. This new one is like a large raised bed, it stands about 3 foot(90 cms) high and is roughly 3 foot x 6 foot (0.9 metre x 1.8 metres) and a depth of… → Read More

Vegtrug Planting Guide

If you’ve been following my posts for a while you’ll probably be aware that I had a brain bleed a few years ago. What I haven’t told you is last year I had a quintuple heart by-pass and it’s left me very weak. I can’t manage my allotment so my son set me up a vegtrug and here’s my vegtrug planting guide. We went for the medium vegtrug which is actually the largest one they do? It’s 1.8 metres (6 foot) long, 76 cms (30 inches) wide and 80 cms (31.5 inches) high. That’s an area roughly 6 foot by… → Read More

Watermelon Companion Plants

I live in the UK and I have dabbled at growing melons in my unheated greenhouse a few times over the years, with mixed results. This year however, I have found a UK based seed company that offers watermelon seeds for the UK climate. So I’m looking at watermelon companion plants and I’ll share them with you here. What Are Watermelons? Watermelons are members of the curcubit family which includes pumpkins, squash, melons, cucumbers, and gourds. They are sweet flavoured and as the name suggests, very juicy. Watermelons develop differently to other members of the same family. They have less… → Read More

Zucchini Companion Plants (Courgettes)

Whether you call them zucchini or courgettes, this summer favourite is easy to grow. As long as they are picked regularly summer squashes including zucchini, marrows, and patty pans will continue producing until the first frosts. There are many zucchini companion plants and all will benefit your plants. The key to healthy plants is as always, soil preparation. Add plenty of compost or well rotted manure to the soil to give these hungry plants a boost. Once they flower feed weekly with comfrey plant food or a good tomato fertiliser. Zucchini Companion Plants Good companion plants for zucchini (courgettes) are… → Read More

The 5 Easiest Vegetables to grow in containers

If space is limited it is still possible to grow fresh, healthy vegetables in containers. In this guide, I’ll share with you the tricks that I have learned over the years. So here it is, the 5 easiest vegetables to grow in containers. Preparation is key As with everything in life, getting the basics right will make the goal easier to attain. Use the largest pot or container you can. Fill with the best compost you can find, and plant the healthiest plants you can grow. Maintenance Container grown plants need feeding regularly with a good food like comfrey plant… → Read More

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

5 Reasons Why An Extended Summer is A Good Thing

This year we have had a heatwave extending into late September. This got me thinking about the bonus that this gives us. Before I start my list, I would like to point out that as a result of an extended summer the pollinating insects are keeping busy which leads to extended crops So here are my 5 reasons why an extended summer is a good thing. 5 Reasons Why An Extended Summer Is a Good Thing 1. The bean season goes on longer. I’m not sure my family will agree that this is a good thing, but I happen to… → 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