The secret to a good crop of runner beans
Every summer veg garden should boast a runner bean frame with its promise of an endless supply of beans throughout the late summer and autumn.
Every summer veg garden should boast a runner bean frame with its promise of an endless supply of beans throughout the late summer and autumn.
The growing season in Scotland is all too short so I like to keep the veg beds as full as possible as much as I can. If you use the potager style of gardening, you’ll be used to filling any space as it becomes available, but many of us sometimes have to rethink how to use larger beds. Why let a leek bed stay empty till the end of June or the space for early tatties be vacant after the middle of July?
Grass clippings add value to any compost bin - they break down easily, add moisture to the heap and speed up the composting process. And they inject heat. Empty a collecting box into the composter and you’ll see what I mean. As a composting geek, I’ve stuck a thermometer into the pile and got an instant reading of 60C.
Lavender’s delightful fragrance has permeated Scottish gardens for centuries. But, like mine, your choice specimens may have succumbed to this winter’s cold and wet – the foul root-rotting weather that doesn’t know when to end this year.
We can’t mow the sodden lawns we’ve got just now so we’ve a chance to look at different mowing regimes to make them attractive.
Carrots are crammed with vitamins and other health-giving nutrients. Originating in Central Asia, they’ve long been grown throughout Europe, initially for their leaves and seed, but now of course for their tap roots. The smaller the final size of the root, the quicker it will mature, so you can harvest stump rooted Paris Market after only 90 days, while long elegant ones take another month.
Primroses are often associated with woodland, but they do need some, though not blazing, sun and you’ll usually find them in woodland edges, as mine are
Buying commercial compost can be a nightmare. Some growing media bring on seed and seedlings beautifully - nearly as well as your own home mix - and others are disastrous. You often wrongly blame yourself and, because of a failure, may have missed a variety’s optimum sowing slot.
There are 21 non-marine mollusc species that occur in Scotland according to the Scottish Biodiversity List, but they are only one of many recycling groups. And our gardens aren’t part of ‘the natural environment’. However wildlife-friendly, our gardens are artificial places, designed and managed as we want.
Herbs in pots image: PA Make the perfect start to ‘grow your own’ by sowing herb seeds in pots whether you’ve a large garden, a small one, or none at all. Add a touch of zest to a dish by arming yourself with a pair of scissors and nipping outside to cut some fresh parsley, coriander or dill.
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