My Global Garden

Grow your own in local skips

8. March 2010

Gardeners are being encouraged to grow carrots in skips on building sites and tomatoes in hospital car parks under new plans to increase the amount of land available for grow-your-own vegetables. The Government is setting up a national “Landbank” that will link keen gardeners with public or private land available in their area where they might [...]

Spring in a box

7. March 2010

1 Comment

Beautiful sunshine tempted me into the garden early this morning but a biting wind soon sent me back indoors. I suppose this puts me into the category of fair weather gardener? My enthusiasm to get gardening is not just down to the sunshine today. I have been inspired by a beautiful leaflet I just received from [...]

Met Office weathers climate criticisms

6. March 2010

0 Comments

The Met Office is in the news this week . Firstly they published an influencial review of more than 100 scientific studies that track the observed changes in the Earth’s climate system. The aim is to restore faith in scientific data following recent adverse publicity centred around the University of East Anglia Climate Change e-mail [...]

1st March - Spring delights

1. March 2010

0 Comments

March is here at last and with it the tell tale signs that spring is coming - found these adorable crocus in Gordon Square in central London. I love wandering round the many beautiful London squares spotting which plants are growing well in the polluted but warmer air. The heat from buildings and the huge amount [...]

How can I get a water metre?

28. February 2010

0 Comments

Following on from my last blog about water companies, I thought it would be helpful to provide a link which explains how to measure exactly what water you use by getting a water metre installed.There are 20 water companies in the UK and most of them are able to provide metres if you request one: http://www.water-guide.org.uk/companies.html This [...]

Summer water turns to gold

27. February 2010

2 Comments

Summer gardening has just taken on a new dimension this week with the announcement by my local water authority that they are going to charge more for mains water during certain months. Southern Water is to be the first utility company to charge extra to supply water to more than a million customers from 1st [...]

RHS grow fruit and veg by phone

26. February 2010

0 Comments

The RHS have just launched a free innovative RHS Grow Your Own iphone app at http://www.rhs.org.uk/iphone This is part of an excellent on-line campaign to encourage Grow Your Own in 2010.The aim is to build a UK map showing where people are growing their own produce and to find out what crops are most popular. 15,ooo individuals [...]

Londoners have their say on climate change

25. February 2010

0 Comments

Londoners are growing their own food, exploring ways to harvest rainwater, thinking about what plants they grow in their garden. I notice this from the number of London hits to my blog . People living in the capital are interested in adapting to climate change in their homes and gardens. Mayor of London Boris Johnson is keen to tap into this [...]

Ready, Steady Grow

21. February 2010

2 Comments

The days are definitely getting longer which is such good news. It stayed light till at least 6pm tonight. This is the time of year when I dig out my seed trays and decide if I should plant now or wait till the spring finally arrives and buy small plants instead. Planting and nurturing seeds [...]

Climate Change inspires tropical orchards

20. February 2010

0 Comments

Kent fruit farmers are re-thinking their future as a result of climate change. They believe that longer, warmer growing seasons will make growing traditional apples and pears less attractive and many are already diversifying into alternative fruits. Mr Jessel, who owns a 300-acre Bockingfold fruit farm in Goudhurst, East Sussex still grows 90 acres of apples [...]