Category Archives: Smallholding

Veg plot 2021: First pick of winter salads this year

Posted on January 3, 2021 by james

To go with our home-made chicken kiev this evening. It’s been thirteen days since my last pick and there really hasn’t been much growth. I took at most two leaves from each plant, plus a few bits of coriander and … Continue reading →

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First hard frost of the winter

Posted on January 1, 2021 by james

We’ve had a few frosts so far this winter, but the temperature has only really got down to -1C and then for only two or three hours. As if in celebration of the end of 2020 however, last night the … Continue reading →

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Damage from Storm Bella

Posted on December 28, 2020 by james

Storm Bella may have brought us the strongest winds we’ve had here for some years and given the saturation of the ground I was concerned that we might see a few trees come down. We appear to have got off … Continue reading →

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A winter lettuce bites the dust

Posted on December 26, 2020 by james

Whilst in the greenhouse today I noticed that one of the lettuces I’ve been growing for winter salads appears to be keeling over. I assume it has failed to cope with either the cold or lack of light, or both … Continue reading →

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Bindweed horrors!

Posted on December 26, 2020 by james

I meant to post this the other day after I completed the no dig conversion of the polytunnel. Early last year my father-in-law planted some early carrots and lettuce in the last wooden-sided bed to be removed, but it ended … Continue reading →

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No dig polytunnel #4

Posted on December 24, 2020 by james

Over the last couple of days I’ve been pushing forward with work to convert the polytunnel to “no dig” and today I’ve pretty much completed that. There’s still work to be done, with support wires needing moving and a little … Continue reading →

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Veg plot 2021: More preparation

Posted on December 22, 2020 by james

I happened to be chatting with a friend a few weeks back who said that if I was thinking of buying some fleece for the veg plot then he’d be interested in getting some at the same time. It’s getting … Continue reading →

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No dig polytunnel #3

Posted on December 22, 2020 by james

It’s been a while waiting for the peppers to finish so I can remove more of the edged beds from the polytunnel, but I’m finally there and that’s what I’ve been doing over the last couple of days as time … Continue reading →

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Polytunnel garlic is go!

Posted on December 22, 2020 by james

A month ago I planted a second batch of garlic in the polytunnel. There were two reasons for doing so: first because I couldn’t get hold of the variety I wanted when I was looking to plant outdoors (that variety … Continue reading →

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Preserving polytunnel pepper plants

Posted on December 22, 2020 by james

Prior to a couple of months ago I’d never really thought about peppers (sweet peppers and chiles) as perennials. In the main in the UK they seem to be grown as annuals. Since they are perennials, trying to keep them … Continue reading →

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