Veg Plotting

The Lle Hari restaurant in Llanrwst has had a lot of fun decorating its windowboxes along seasonal lines. They've also made a haunted hotel video to really get you in the mood! Across the road they've continued with the Halloween theme by creating a pumpkin graveyard. I particularly like the wellies. It would be great to go back to see if the pumpkins are lit up at night - spooky. Karen , Dobby and I had a lot of fun exploring all the features of these unusual front gardens on our way back from Bodnant a couple of weeks ago. But the biggest smile of all was on the face of the elderly lady we saw in a wheelchair, who was totally captivated by the scene.

Inspired by my recent foray into the world of Sugru and to celebrate Wild About Gardens week, I made a couple of simple bird feeders on Sunday. This used up my second little packet of yellow, plus a couple of left over posh pudding glass dishes and some spare tapestry wool. The above pictures should give you an idea of how I went about it. I used a metal skewer to make the holes through which I threaded the tapestry wool - allowing a day for the sugru to harden before the threading. These feeders won't withstand the kind of weather we had over the weekend and yesterday, but they make an attractive addition to the garden on calmer days like today. I'm considering replacing the wool with some garden wire to make a more robust feeder. The apples you can see in the top picture are Herefordshire russet, a variety with a superb flavour. They're late to pick this year and I'll be leaving those on the hard-to-reach branches as a tithe for the birds. They seem to l...

The outdoor footwear of the season is boots or wellies, so today's giveaway complements them perfectly. I have 4 pairs each of Heat Holders wellie socks and Workforce Ultimate Comfort socks  available. The wellie socks are for women (boot size 4-8) and Workforce for men (boot size 9-11), but those of you with small or large feet may like to choose accordingly. I could have done with a pair of these to keep my toes all toasty up at the allotment today! All you need to do to enter is to leave a comment below saying which socks you'd prefer. Please make sure I can contact you, should you be a winner. You can also make extra entries if you tweet a link to this blog post (please mention @malvernmeet so I can pick up your entry), or write on my facebook wall . I'll draw the winners next Monday morning (November 4th), so good luck! Giveaway T&Cs Sorry, this prize draw is only available in the UK. Entries close at midnight GMT on Sunday, November 3rd. Up to thr...

As my salad challenge is Mastering Lettuce this year, I was surprised to find a completely new form (to me anyway) at the Yeo Valley Organic Garden recently. This is ' Lattughino verde ', which looks more like a giant wild rocket than a lettuce. Its flavour is mild, so it's one for adding bulk and visual appeal to a salad. Most of the online information - unsurprisingly - is in Italian, but I have managed to find it in the Organic Gardening catalogue. They've put it in the loose leaf category and describe it as 'an Italian finger lettuce'. They have another of this type which looks tempting called ' Catalogna '. It's described as 'slow to bolt, hardy and quick regrowing' - sounds like an excellent candidate for the picking method. I've added both varieties to my list of new leaves to try for next year along with the 'easy watercress' (aka Cardamine raphanifolia )  Emma Cooper found at the Edulis nursery last weekend. She ...

Back in Waterperry's orchard with Horticultural Manager Rob Jacobs - a very fine place to be In honour of today's Apple Day , I'm returning to last month's study day at Waterperry Gardens , where we learnt lots about the summer pruning of trained apple trees such as cordons and espaliers. Note this pruning does not apply to apples grown as bush or standard trees; their pruning is confined to the winter period . Summer pruning is carried out on the shoots growing out from the main branches. This is to increase the number of fruiting spurs on the tree for the following year and to let the sunlight through to ripen the current year's crop. The RHS guidance says that this pruning is best carried out in the third week in August in the south and around 10 days later in the north. This guidance also says the pruning should be done when the bottom third of the new shoot is firm and woody. This timing is judged according to the tree's vigour, its location an...

Yesterday was extraordinary. A new plant nursery was launched right here in Wiltshire and after a tough couple of years for the garden industry, it's great to have some unexpectedly good news to tell you. On a personal note, I'm pleased to have another quality specialist nursery so close to home. Evolution Plants is owned by Tom Mitchell. He's a plant biologist by training, who like me languished in the world of banking until he woke up and saw sense. Well, he did admit his 'waking up' was whilst suffering from clinical depression, and all the people he consulted along the way to help make his business work said 'DON'T'. But when a passion takes hold and no matter what the head may tell you, sometimes you have to follow your heart. So, Tom became a plant hunter and travelled the world for 5 years collecting seeds from 3,000 plant species, some of which - including at least one new Genus - have yet to be named. Those precious seeds are now being ...

I've been really pleased with how my new Salvia 'Amistad'  (well, bought at RHS Tatton show in 2012) has settled into the garden this year. It's stood up strongly to the autumnal storms which lashed their way over the garden the past couple of weeks. Seeing the stems swaying in the wind reminds me of the pictures of prayer flags I've seen fluttering over the Himalayas. You might think I'm being a bit fanciful, but I at least can see a link between the two. It's a most dramatic plant, with its dark almost black stems holding court in my large terrace bed. They're quite a contrast to the pinks and reds you can see dotted around in the background above. It's quite tall for a Salvia , so I'm glad I've placed it in a corner, where it leans over conversationally as I make my way down the steps towards the shed. I've been thinking quite a bit about this 'purple patch' lately. Most of my purple happens earlier in the year, thou...

Last week I was asked for my opinions about a new product Greenhouse Sensation are developing as shown above. I've replied already, and they're keen to hear what you have to say too! Here's what was said in the accompanying email: We are very close to releasing a new product, we just need to confirm the colour and I would be very grateful for your thoughts on the product idea, colours etc  The product is a more attractive and compact version of the Quadgrow, with 2x 12litre (30cm) pots and a 17 litre reservoir. It’s approximately 60cms long and 30cms wide.  We may also create a black one which would have a slightly lower price, but a less lovely finish too and we might or might not have the option to link two units together to make a 4-pot version – though I would be grateful if you would let me have your thoughts on the usefulness of such a feature.  If you think it would be appropriate I would be happy for you to ask your readers which of the options the...

A very warm welcome to Grow Your Own readers. I'm chuckling at being called an Allotment Guru in the magazine as there's always something new to learn, but then that's why I write this blog. I hope you enjoy your visit to Veg Plotting . If you're intrigued by the mention of my biochar experiment in the magazine, then here are the results of my trial with alliums this year. If you fancy my 52 Week Salad Challenge instead, then the link takes you to a page which summarises all my posts on the subject. You can start growing right now too! Otherwise, you can dive straight in and read my latest posts by simply scrolling down your screen, or have a look through my Pages section to the right to see what takes your fancy. It was great to see so many of my blogging pals featured in the Grow Your Own  article - you'll find I've linked to many of them a bit further down on the right too. The links open up into new windows, so it's a bit like being able to...