How To Attract Birds To Your Garden
Wild birds play an important role in the life of the garden. Learn how to attract birds to your garden and how to identify common bird species.
Tag Archives: seeds
Growing Parsnips in containers
Parsnips are considered to be difficult to grow by some gardeners, I have never had any difficulty with them. I always allow the soil to warm up before sowing my parsnip seed and this is usually long after the guide date on the seed packet. Growing parsnips in containers allows you to artificially raise the soil temperature and get an earlier start than is otherwise possible. Growing Parsnips in containers It’a all about the size when growing parsnips in containers. The container needs to be at least 24 inches (60 cms) deep to allow the parsnip roots to grow. I… → Read More
How To Germinate Seeds Quickly
Seeds require heat and moisture to grow, the growing medium isn’t particularly important. What is important is a constant temperature and adequate moisture content. That’s the beginning of this fascinating journey into how to germinate seeds quickly. What is a Seed? Any seed from the smallest mustard seed to the largest sunflower seed is an embryo. In it is everything necessary to nurture the life force of the emerging plant. Plants produce seeds to perpetuate their species and like any parent they ensure that the seed has all it needs. A good example of this are wild birds, we know… → Read More
The Benefits Of Epsom Salts
Nearly every modern gardening guide has a reference to Epsom Salts. So here is the growing-guides definitive guide to the benefits of Epsom Salts. What Are Epsom Salts? Epsom salts are a compound of magnesium sulfate not really a salt at all, but a naturally occurring mineral compound named after a spring found just outside Epsom in Surrey UK. The Benefits Of Epsom Salts There are many benefits from using Epsom Salts in the garden, but before we get into that lets explore exactly what Epsom Salts are. As stated earlier they are a compound of magnesium and sulfate. Both… → Read More
Growing Amaranth
My friend has given me about a dozen Amaranth plants and I don’t have a clue how to grow them. So as I am researching them anyway I thought I’d write a post on growing Amaranth. What Is Amaranth? Amaranth is a plant similar to spinach or quinoa. It originates in South America but will survive in the UK in summer time. The common name for amaranth is Love Lies Bleeding, and amaranth means everlasting in Greek. Growing Amaranth Amaranth will grow easily in the UK in well drained soil after all frosts have finished. Sow seeds in late May… → Read More
How To Grow Parsnips
There is no real secret in how to grow parsnips, but there are a few helpful tips that will make the process easier. So in this post I’ll reveal all the tricks and tips I’ve learned over the years to get the best from your parsnip seeds. Parsnips have such a poor germination reputation, this is due to a number of factors. The First Trick To Growing Parsnips The first tip is very simple always use fresh seed. This gives you the best chance of success the fresher the seed, the more viable it is, and so the easier it… → Read More
What To Do In The January Veg Garden
In my part of the United Kingdom January is either wet and mild or cold and frosty. It is currently cold, frosty, and extremely windy. Not really conducive to vegetable gardening. But here is the growing-guide what to do in the January Veg Garden. What to do in the January Fruit garden As long as the ground isn’t frozen, January is the perfect time to plant bare rooted fruit trees. Be sure to add a strong stake to prevent wind damage. This month is also the perfect time to Prune apple/pear trees. The trees are dormant at this time of… → Read More
How To Save Seeds From Runner Beans
If you have grown a variety of beans that you have enjoyed, and it wasn’t an F1 hybrid then it is well worth saving seeds for next year. F1 hybrids will not come true to type but if you’re not too bothered about staying true to type then save some anyway. So here’s how to save seeds from runner beans. How to save Seeds from Runner Beans Towards the end of the growing season, after you have been picking runner beans for a while and have frozen enough to see you through the winter, leave some beans growing on the… → Read More
How To Save Seed
How to save seed Now days vegetable seeds are relatively cheap to buy, but sometimes you want to have the squash that someone has given you and was particularly tasty but you are unaware of its name so this is how to save seed. you will need, A Jar A saucer A sieve A container/bag Step one – extracting seed Take the squash or tomato you wish to save seed from and extract some seeds. Step two – soaking seeds Next place the extracted seed into a jar and add just enough water to cover the seeds. Replace the lid… → Read More
Successful seed germination
In all the years I have been growing vegetables seed germination has been somewhat sporadic, but I have discovered a successful seed germination technique which so far has a 100% germination rate. I have only tried this with tomato seeds so far but I used 13 seeds and I have 13 seedlings. So now I am trying many different seeds in the hope that they will be as successful. Parsnips are always a seed that I have a problem germinating( last year I managed 12 parsnips out of 36 seeds) so I have now applied the following technique to my… → Read More