My Global Garden

RHS highlights garden renaissance

5. August 2010

Increasing numbers of people are joining their local garden and allotment clubs, says the Royal Horticultural Society in the lead up to its annual Dig Together Day on 4th and 5th September.http://www.rhs.org.uk/digtogetherday The gardening ‘renaissance’ was revealed by a recent survey of 100 of the Society’s affiliated gardening clubs - 73% of clubs [...]

Growing season lengthens by 1 month

3. May 2010

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The growing season for plants is now longer than at any time since records began in 1772. Since 1900 it has lengthened by 30 days - a whole month - which makes a real difference to the range of vegetables that can be grown succesfully in the UK. According to UKCIP, predictions are that the growing [...]

Allotment Adventures

19. April 2010

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I have been digging over my allotment, inspired by Alys Fowler’s second Edible Garden programme. Have also invested in her excellent book of the same name which is a great read with helpful info and stylish photos. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Edible-Garden-How-Have-Your/dp/1846079748 Alice’s experiences with tomato blight were the main theme this week. She does seem to have been unlucky [...]

RHS and BBC promote Grow your Own

6. April 2010

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Grow Your Own appears to be the recipe for engaging gardeners at the moment. Both the RHS and the BBC have excellent on-line resources with tips, guides and ideas for growing anything and everything edible this year. I personally like the BBC Dig In site which is easy to use and clearly explains how to grow different types of crop. http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/digin/vegetables/ Then there [...]

How to set up a vegetable allotment

5. April 2010

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Great excitement - today I was given a patch of soil at The Village allotments by my local buddy, Councillor Steve Wallis who just happens to be the portfolio holder for the Environment at Eastbourne Borough Council. It is nearly a year since I first discovered the Village with its totally unique set up of [...]

Veg patch planning

25. January 2010

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Last summer I spent many enjoyable months helping out at The Village allotments in Eastbourne which was great fun . It was the perfect wayto find out more about the trials and tribulations of creating and looking after an allotment before I take on my own patch of land - hopefully this summer. One of the [...]

Climate change allotments bloom

18. January 2010

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Following on from my last blog , it does appear that the government are finallywaking up to the power of individuals growing their own food in their own gardens, roof-tops or any available space: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jan/04/grow-your-own-unused-land-2030 The BBC has also got behind the value of growing your own produce to combat carbon emmissions .Check out its on-line system [...]

Overseas veg take root on the South Coast

11. September 2009

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Overseas veg take root on the South Coast

An interesting thing happened after writing yesterday’s blog about the longer growing season making a wider range of veg available for UK allotments. I popped round to see what has been happening in The Village allotments in the Meads, Eastbourne and bumped into a very interesting guy called Jo. I was actually admiring his impressive sweet [...]

National Allotments Week inspires veg plot party

9. August 2009

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National Allotments Week inspires veg plot party

This week is being celebrated on allotments all over the UK as it is National Allotments Week. Run by the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Growers since 2005, this aims to promote the awareness and availablitity of allotments locally and nationally to demonstrate to local authorities the strength of support and interest for the heritage [...]

Big Lunch promotes human warming

20. July 2009

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Yesterday was the day when the Eden Project suggested that we all get together to share a meal, using produce that we have grown ourselves or, that has been locally sourced. The idea came from one of my favourite Eden gurus - Tim Smit who wanted to promote “human warming.” He summed it up when he [...]