I do not put ads on my blog but do have a counter that shows me how many visits the pages get. (The stats. count is just there so I can see if I am 'talking' to myself, luckily so far this has not happened.) By continuing your visit here you are consenting to the stats. counter tracking cookies. Cookies, that sounds like something nice to eat but not that exciting.

Growing Your Own Fruit and Vegetables

We grow our own fruit and vegetables for our meals for as much of the year as we can. Without a greenhouse we have to buy shop food in the winter months but in the spring, summer and autumn we often have enough to share with family and friends.

Read about growing your fruit and vegetables here on my growing your own food pages.

Sunday 14 November 2010

UK gardeners - You can plant garlic this month

Growing garlic is fairly easy to do. You plant the individual cloves of garlic, they need to be growing through the colder weather as this is what makes the cloves divide into new cloves of garlic.


Planting Garlic

Plant your garlic between October and February.
 (in U.K other countries planting times may vary).
The garlic needs the cold weather to form the individual cloves. 

Now is a good time before the ground becomes more difficult to work. ( frost and rain make it difficult sometimes).

Plant the garlic cloves in a  patch of garden or vegetable plot in a sunny bit of the garden. 
First clear the weeds before you plant your garlic.
 You could try growing some garlic in a plant pot if you do not have a patch in the garden to plant it in.
Growing garlic is easy, so you can save money by growing your own garlic.

Buying Garlic.  

You can buy them from your local garden centres or on on line. 

There are different varieties these either red or white skinned.


Some varieties of garlic store better than others.


If you cannot find bulbs to buy you can use the ones you buy in a supermarket but the varieties there might not be as suitable for growing in your climate as they will have been imported. 
Select plump healthy garlic bulbs when buying them.

To Grow Garlic.
Plant garlic 10cm. apart with 23-30 cm between the rows  if you are short of space or you can plant the cloves : 20cm apart with 20cm between rows
 you may get bigger garlic to harvest because of the extra room they have to grow and with more space in between them  you will  find it easier to weed the rows.
To plant  split the bulbs into individual cloves.
 Gently break them apart with your fingers, now place one clove of garlic into each planting space with the tips of the garlic just below the surface. 
Firm gently, into the soil with your hands.
Check them until they are established and keep the area weed free as they grow, do not over water. Harvest the garlic when ready in June, July or August.

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a healthy potato plant in flower

a healthy potato plant in flower
photo of potatoes in flower

home grown carrots.. grown from seed

home grown carrots.. grown from seed
photo of my first bunch of carrots 2009

Even a small batch of mixed fruit can be useful

Even a small batch of mixed fruit can be useful
Home Grown Fruit can be made into delicious compote