We know that fresh vegetables are good for us. The ‘eat five-a-day’ and ‘grow your own’ campaigns especially, have helped us get into the habit of eating healthy food but there’s always new information coming to light to cause confusion! The latest information reported from a major global study published in the Lancet, is that Read More
Anyone can grow herbs and you don’t even need a garden so next time you open a dingy jar of dried herbs from your kitchen cupboard imagine how much tastier your meals will be if they are laced with the freshness and vitality of home gown herbs. And you don’t end need to have a Read More
Mary Berry is one of UK’s best-known and respected TV cooks, most famous for her role as former judge on BBCs Great British Bake Off and a prolific cookery writer with over 75 cookery books to her name. She trained in Home Economics, followed by a Paris Cordon Bleu course and quickly established her style Read More
Already stressed out with work and in need to lose some weight after the excesses of Christmas? Then why not join the homegrown craze and get an allotment and grow your own. Allotments are reasonably cheap to rent and you get healthy exercise without having to pay for a gym or run around in circles. Read More
Dwarf oranges or calamondins make great houseplants as the leaves have a lustrous polish on their upper surfaces and given enough light, they produce tasty citrus fruit. The fruits, mostly ripens in winter, so to add that familiar fruity fragrance of Christmas to your home, you should buy plants now. Mini Calamondin trees make excellent Read More
Wellington Bob, an old guy who worked a nearby allotment to my dad’s in the late 60s had some quirky ways and one of the most memorable was that he used to bring home fresh blood from the abattoirs and keep it in a barrel outside his shed to ‘feed’ his prized plants! He’d been Read More
Parsnips have been grown in Britain since Roman times, so were a staple of the British diet long before the potato became widely eaten. They were mainly used to add a bit of sweetness to recipes and remained a favourite side dish the traditional roast. Sow fresh parsnip seeds – they become less effective or Read More
Did you know an extremely useful medicine already grows in your garden? You probably consider dandelions to be a weed and spend countless hours each year waging war on them but beauty specialist, Angela Lopez from Angela’s Belle Toi (angelasbelletoi.com) in Bournemouth, says that with a bit of ingenuity and knowledge you could also be Read More
Passionate plantsman and keen gardener, Matthew Biggs is always curious about the history of plants, so was impressed to discover that his favourite pear variety was single-handedly responsible for saving the British pear industry. He knows from experience that the Conference pear is perfect for the British climate, as it crops reliably in his own Read More
It was a revelation to me to discover that tulip bulbs are edible, as I’ve always thought they are poisonous! Ben Ungermann, runner up in the 2017 Masterchef Australia competition showed off his Dutch heritage in the finals cooking up a feast, which included tulip bulbs as a side dish to his cinder fillet of Read More
