Grow-How

Growing potatoes in a greenhouse or polytunnel for a very early crop

Potatoes can be planted at any time of year, provided you keep them free from frost. If you have a polytunnel or greenhouse then you can plant them in December or January and have very early potatoes on the table in March and April (early varieties take around 80 to 100 days before they are ready. If you have enough space, the seed potatoes can be planted in beds, just as you would outside. Another way to grow them is in large containers or grow bags. Filled with good quality potting compost and and a general purpose organic feed (such as Greenvale). The grow bags can

Seeds for grassland, forage and soil fertility

Research is confirming that a diverse mix of grasses, legumes and other plants improves pasture and grassland for soil health, animal health and for wildlife. The Organic Research Centre in the UK has published a summary of results from a recent study that clearly shows the benefits of incorporating more than two species of legumes to help build soil fertility: Legumes: building soil fertility (pdf file) Legumes such as clover help build soil fertility They also found that including different grasses in the mix helped: "There are benefits from the inclusion of

Controlling blight using organic methods

It's the time of year to start thinking about preventing blight - especially in your potato crop. There are now some excellent blight resistant varieties suitable for organic growers. We saw great demand for these this spring and sold out quickly. We'll make sure to have as many blight resistant varieties as possible next year. Another way to avoid blight is simply to grow earlies or 2nd earlies and get them harvested before blight takes hold. This does mean that you may not get such a large yield, and may not be suitable for people looking to store through the