Sunday night the winds were gusting to over 60mph. Thanks to the Met Office we knew it was coming and thought we were ready ...

Welcome to my allotment garden diary. Quite simply this is a record of our success and failures growing our own, gardening and trying to live the good life. A diary is actually a really useful tool ...

Kiwifruit can be grown successfully in the UK so long as you have plenty of space and a sunny spot. Despite the ‘kiwi’ name suggesting they come from New Zealand, they are actually from southern China ...

Some years ago we moved to a new house which had a tiny suburban garden giving little room for growing vegetables, mainly a small herb bed and some salad crops. Then I realised there was an allotment ...

Greengages are a small, round, yellow-green and deliciously sweet type of plum.They were introduced into Britain from France by Sir William Gage in the 1720s. Greengages are also known as Reine ...

Brussels Sprouts were a popular vegetable in Belgium, hence the name. They are delicious if grown and cooked correctly – see Brussels sprouts recipes and are an excellent source of vitamins C, K, B12, ...

Romanesco has aspects of both calabrese and cauliflower; it dates from 500 years ago in Italy and was originally called Romanesco broccoli. Sometimes it is also called broccoflower – but this name is ...

The onion fly lays its eggs by the base of the onion which then hatch into maggots who eat away at the base of the onion and its roots killing the onion. Identifying the problem is straightforward.

If you live in an area with mild winters, just leave the carrots in the ground as winter arrives and the fern dies off. Then give them a good mulch with leafmould or compost to protect them until ...

Outdoor sweetcorn success. Repairing the bird damage to the polytunnel. Radish leaves become a delicious and nutritious soup, ...

The government has been promoting allotment growing and regeneration. Their sites will give you an insight into official thinking about allotments. The major national gardening and allotment societies ...

Tayberry (Rubus fruticosus x ideaus) is a cross between a blackberry and a red raspberry, and is named after the River Tay in Scotland. It was patented in 1979. If there is only space to grow one ...