14th May 2023 Featured, Spring

May’s second half has so much potential for new plantings and harvests. No dig makes it easier because as gross speeds up, we have less time to deal with weeds. And if you have been keeping up w

1st May 2023 Featured, Spring

May 2023 no dig sowings are meeting damp weather. It’s a wet and dull spring here. March and April had the most rain since 2001, and the least sun since 2004. Any lack of light is bad for growth

15th April 2023 Featured, Spring

You can now make many sowings as the weather improves, at last. So far, it’s been a difficult spring for gardening. Too much wind and many cold nights. Above all a lack of sunshine. In England a

30th March 2023 Featured, Spring

March has been remarkably dull, one of the least sunny months I’ve ever recorded, at a time when we are hoping for the first rays of warm sunshine. Nonetheless, it has been mild (nights average

16th March 2023 Featured, Spring

Spring can be joyful, frustrating, beautiful, dour! Much as we love the good bits, we have to accept that there will always be setbacks and it’s good to be prepared. Don’t sow too early an

28th February 2023 Featured, Spring, Uncategorised

No dig early spring March 2023, sow under cover only for now, using the dates I suggest and sow tomatoes 10th March. Sometimes it said that the first day of spring is the equinox. In many ways, this i

15th May 2022 Featured, Spring

A brief update at a busy time of remarkable growth. No dig is a huge help in keeping up to date, most notably because there are fewer weeds to deal with. Nonetheless remove any new weed growth you see

29th April 2022 Spring

It’s a third consecutive year of April being very dry. In fact since 17th March we have had just 24mm rain (an inch). We need to give more water than usual, especially to new transplants and sal

16th April 2022 Featured, Spring

Spring is rushing in. I hope you enjoy my tips from Homeacres, and a look at what we are up to. The featured photo is morning of 16th March, the lettuce cover briefly removed We have started an offer

29th March 2022 Featured, Spring

Spring is here, in its usual stop start fashion. If you still have snow, may it melt soon. Be prepared for frost in many areas, and do not rush to sow plants which need warmth. For example I sow cucum

10th March 2022 Featured, Spring

The second half of March sees much more sowing, planting, raking and weeding outside, than at any time since late summer. I’m sorry though that you may be reading this with snow on the ground in

12th May 2021 Featured, Spring

In gardening one is often comparing the weather and conditions with those of the year before. So far, spring 2021 has been diametrically different to 2020! For those of you who started last year, you

28th April 2021 Featured, Spring

Weather rules. This is turning into a difficult spring, with temperatures significantly below average – in particular by night. In the UK, there have been more frosts in April than in any other

15th April 2021 Featured, Spring

A difficult spring so far, with a lack of warmth and frosts down to -4.5 C here, nine frosts in the last 12 nights. However it has been dry! And although that means watering new transplants, it also m

29th March 2021 Featured, Spring

Transplanting times are here, but watch out for cold weather too. Plants ready now are frost hardy, such as lettuce, peas, onions and broccoli. I advise to wait until mid April before sowing frost ten

13th March 2021 Featured, Spring

It has been a different kind of winter here, somehow cold and damp in a more damaging way than 2018, when we had bitter winds in March but with less damage to plants. See the broad bean photos below.

28th February 2021 Featured, Spring

This is a full on time for a propagation, although also there is no rush to sow tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, sweetcorn et cetera. Spring is also good for making new beds, which you can actually do

11th May 2020 Featured, Spring

We just had a week of summer weather, now winter returns briefly. Old weather lore refers to the ice nights of 11th-13th May! I hope you can cover potatoes enough to protect them, and any other frost

29th April 2020 Featured, Spring

April in the UK has been kind to gardeners, unusually warm and sunny, and now there is rain. I hope it’s springlike elsewhere, or nicely autumnal in the southern hemisphere. Gardening is at leas

13th April 2020 Featured, Spring

For those starting now, I wish you well. It’s never too late to make a bed or two, and new plantings continue until autumn, so take heart. My latest video has many tips for transplanting, after a qu

29th March 2020 Featured, Spring

There is now an epic amount of interest in food growing, and this is seasonal advice. Also about starting out. It’s based on no dig and seasonal methods, keeping things simple and in a well info