Seeds & Propagation

1. Clean Up There’s more to a tidy up in the garden than just making it look neat and tidy – old plants can harbour diseases and pests so it’s wise to remove and dispose of any spent or rotting plants from your plot. You can also bury any disease & pest free finished plants into the ground which will...

The terms ‘Rye’ and ‘Ryegrass’ can be confusing. They both refer to plants which belong to the grasses (Poaceae family) and their uses overlap. However, they are not the same species. Rye (Secale cereale) is a cereal grain closely related to wheat and barley. It is grown for grain that produces deep flavourful breads but also as a forage and...

Often considered a practice of the more geekier strain of gardener, saving seeds (of certain plants) is, however, easy and accessible to anyone.

Not hailing from Jerusalem, nor an artichoke, but a species of sunflower which produces masses of edible tubers. Jerusalem Artichokes originated in North America and were introduced to Europe by colonists. Growing Jerusalem Artichokes Jerusalem Artichokes are very easy to grow but some things are worth considering - They are large plants which can be between 1.5-3m high so be...

Certified seed potatoes are seed that has been certified for purity and freedom from disease by the Dept of Agriculture. Each seed crop is inspected to confirm the identity of the variety, to ensure that it meets the minimum level of varietal purity and that it meets certain plant health and pest infection standards.

There’s a grand stretch in the evening and when it stops raining we should all be able to get out in the garden.  For the early starters it’s definitely worth covering the ground before planting to warm up the soil a little and protect it from the rain.  Either put up a small cloche or cover the soil with plastic...

The onion has been grown and selectively bred in cultivation for at least 7,000 years. Onions are part of the allium family - along with shallots, garlic and leeks. Onion Sets Onion sets are available as white or red for spring planting and as white onions for autumn planting. (Onion Sets are grown by sowing onion seed thickly late in...

It's seed sowing time - again - hooray! So time to get the pen and paper out and do some forward planning. Because time and growing space are usually limited it is important to plan not only a proper rotation but also to decide which vegetables are most popular in your family and how many plants will be needed.  Include...