The Cottage Smallholder

“You look so happy.” Danny said. We were resting from digging on plot 90B. The wind was warm. And yes I was happy. We were out and working together on our new project. An allotment, five miles from home, that feels like paradise. I’m finding it very hard to tear myself away from our allotment. Read More »

We have two big borders at the bottom of our kitchen garden that formerly were just a rough patch where very little thrived.  With great hope and optimism these became our first space for growing vegetables. I scattered a bit of Growmore and watered my seeds fervently. Things germinated and grew in a spindly sort Read More »

Our cottage is set quite a way back from the road. We like this as it gives us a lot more privacy than a house set beside a pavement. This front garden faces south west and is a much warmer and more protected spot than the kitchen garden – which lies in a bit of Read More »

“Did you know that you’ve got a giant dock weed growing in the herbaceous border?” “Well yes and no. I thought it might be a dock at first but its leaves are larger and curly.” Danny picked a regular dock leaf and compared them. Same colour, similar veins. The dock leaf was much smaller, without Read More »

I’m switching my worm composter from dog poo to food scraps. I was pleased with it at first, but the worms just couldn’t keep up with the amount of poo that the Min Pins generate. Perhaps I needed more worms or a bigger unit? To be quite honest with you the sight of the worms Read More »

  When I first moved to the cottage my mum told me that I needed to scratch over the surface of all the herbaceous borders with a hand fork in the spring. “It lifts the soil, lets it breath and avoids compaction. Ideally you add some fertiliser to give it a bit of a boost.” Read More »

Somehow people seem to be much more creative and imaginative in polytunnels than greenhouses. I picked up the idea of floating shelves from the excellent book by Mark Gatter and Andy Mckee How to Grow Food in Your Polytunnel. Of course the subtitle ‘All the Year Round’ was the initial hook for me. We are so Read More »

  The secret of successful growing is in the soil. Poor soil will always give iffy results however much time you give to watering and TLC. So this year I was determined to continue to improve the soil in the old kitchen garden. Things do grow there but they are not as luxuriant as the Read More »

  I’m continuing to practice biodynamic principles this year. Last year, when I followed the planting and harvesting days religiously, I had great results. Good strong plants, more disease resistance and better harvests. With the exception of battling with cabbage white fly that nearly decimated the Sutherland kale*. I tried to save our crop but Read More »

  There was a fascinating article in Permaculture magazine (no. 66 Winter 2010) using an Inca technique to self water a greenhouse. Basically, water is harvested from the roof of the tunnel or greenhouse into a central semi lined gulley. This seeps in between small stones beneath raised beds and waters the plants from below. Read More »