Fresh herbs are a great way to add flavour to meals and they are easy to grow from seed at home. Now is the time to sow seeds of lots of culinary herbs including basil, rosemary and thyme. Keep them on a warm windowsill or propagator until they germinate then prick the seedlings out and…
Category: vegetables
Edible Gardening Guide for Beginners
Gardening is a fantastic past time and spending time outdoors is a great way to keep mind, body and soul in great shape. Planting from scratch is incredibly rewarding and you’ll be treated to a riot of colour in your garden come summer. If you are interested in food and cookery then you should try…
Scotland’s gardens open to the public
Plantaholics, wildlife lovers and grow-your-own newbies are in for a treat this year as over 450 gardens open to the public for Scotland’s Gardens Scheme to help raise money for charity. Gardens of all sizes – in cities and villages, islands and lochs – will unlatch their gates to welcome visitors throughout the year. Fifty-seven outdoor spaces will…
Guide to companion planting
Companion planting is a subject which has always interested me since I first started gardening in an allotment. Whether you plant onions with carrots to prevent carrot fly or nasturtiums with courgettes to encourage pollination, it makes far more sense to plant in a natural way than to use chemicals and other unnatural deterrents to…
Scotland’s Gardens – exploring the magical world of other people’s gardens
Nothing beats a weekend wander around a beautiful garden. Whether it’s a stately home, a National Trust property or a community growing space, I always find it the best form of inspiration, as well as an educational experience in different garden layouts, designs and exciting new plants and cultivars. That’s why I’m a big fan…
Read my new Scot’s Magazine gardening blog
I’m very privileged to feature in Scot’s Magazine this month and to be writing a weekly blog on the magazine’s website throughout July. My first entry offers some top tips on how to grow lettuce leaves, and the second entry – up today – is about how to encourage wildlife into your garden to help it thrive…
My favourite rhubarb cordial recipes
If you’re anything like me you’ll have a glut of rhubarb in the garden that needs to be used up this month. I’m a big fan of a rhubarb crumble, but it is summer and a crumble isn’t the lightest of desserts. A nice light rhubarb fool like this one from BBC Good Food can,…
How to grow veg using just 1sq ft
I love the idea of square foot gardening. By following a simple and straightforward formula, anyone with even the smallest of outdoor spaces can grow their own fruit and veg, and it claims to be an idiot proof formula. In light of the fact that it’s National Gardening Week, I thought it would be a…
Easter outdoor activities and Glasgow’s Green Year
Anything that encourages people to get outdoors and involved in nature and the environment wins my backing. That’s why (as a proud Glaswegian) I’m very interested in 2015 being ‘Glasgow’s Green Year’. This is a programme being driven forward by Glasgow City Council to get citizens to take an interest in sustainability. It basically consists…
Inspiration for your home-grown vegetables
On Saturday I was lucky enough to be taken for lunch at the Gardeners Cottage in Edinburgh – a tiny wee restaurant on Royal Terrance which is committed to serving food using the best seasonal and local produce while nurturing relationships with the local community and local producers. Before you reach the front door, you pass…
