Buy British and celebrate British Tomato Week or why not grow your own?

This week it is British Tomato Week 20^th-26^th May which is launched by the British Tomato Growers Association to promote our own locally grown tomatoes.

British grown tomatoes are available in shops now, picked when they are perfect for eating and with only a short distance to travel to the shops they are super fresh, tasty, healthy and environmentally friendly.

Although many British growers produce tomatoes on a large scale they care about the environment, millions of bumblebees are used each year to pollinate plants, insects are used as a natural pest control and millions of gallons of water are stored from glasshouse roofs for irrigation.

Tomatoes are delicious fresh or cooked, they are very healthy containing Vitamins A, C and E, and Potassium and Calcium, they are low in calories and contain virtually no fat or cholesterol.

Store your Tomatoes at room temperature, keeping them in the fridge impairs their flavour.

Did you know?

1. Tomatoes are fruits not vegetables.
2. In Britain we each eat on average two tomatoes every week. 
3. Tomatoes originate from the Andes in South America, where they grow wild. They were first cultivated by the Aztecs and Incas as early as 700 AD. 
4. Tomato Seeds have been grown in space.
5. The largest UK tomato glasshouse covers 26.5 acres, but is currently being extended to 44.5 acres, or 18 hectares. That’s the size of 25 international football pitches. 

For more information, recipes, and facts have a look at the British Tomato Growers website and the Kid’s Tomato Zone for fun activities.

So support our growers by buying British and local Tomatoes or why not have a go at growing your own it is a lot easier than you think and now is the perfect time to plant them, click here for a Guide to Growing your own Tomatoes.

Gill

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Get arty and have a go at our new childrens competitions

On the Gardening With Children website we have just launched two new free Childrens Competitions, with a chance to win some great Wildlife and Gardening Goodies for your home or school.

1.  In the Family Zone and Kids Zone

To help the Bees in your garden why not enter our competition for a chance to win

 

 

A Solitary Bee Hive

 

 

 

A Butterfly/Bee Nectar Feeding Station

 

 

 

and a Guide to Solitary Bees

 

What you need to do

‘Bee’ creative and design a poster with the heading ‘Bee kind to Bees’  or  ‘Bee’ artistic and draw a picture of a Bee in your garden.

Send your drawing to us with an entry form before the closing date of 30^th June 2013 and our favourite will win. Click here for full details and an entry form.

 

2.  In the School Zone

Win a Scarecrow for your school garden.

 

For a chance to win one of our Scarecrow Kits complete with a hand crafted Head why not enter our competition, your Scarecrow will make a fun addition to the school garden; why not dress him in your School Uniform or a local Football Team Kit.

 

What you need to do

Simply draw or paint a picture of a Scarecrow, then give him/her a name and send it to us with an entry form before the closing date of 30th June 2013 and our favourite will win. Click here for full details and an entry form.

 

Congratulations to the winners of our last two competitions

The winner of our March/April School Zone Competition was Ludworth Primary School, Stockport, they have won a Kids Raised Bed Growing Table and the winner of the Family/Kids Zone competition was Lydia Clarkson from Leeds who won a Yeominis Childrens Wheelbarrow and a Haws Watering Can.

Well done to them, we hope they enjoy their fabulous prizes.

 

Gill

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Could Cucumbers be the next superfood – why not grow your own?

Cucumbers are often only thought of as an ingredient in a salad but there is a lot more to cucumbers than you think.

A Cucumber is classed as a fruit not a vegetable and consists of 95% water, it also contains potassium and vitamins K, C and B5 which help to restore water to your body whilst removing toxins. Cucumbers are beneficial to your eyes and skin and can help fight against different types of cancer, cucumbers contain 15 calories and no saturated fat or cholesterol making them very healthy indeed.

So why not celebrate National Cucumber Day on 12^th May 2013 by sowing some seeds and growing your own:

Sow seeds individually on their edge in small pots 1cm deep in seed compost, place in a propagator and once they have germinated grow them on somewhere cool and light (not in direct sunlight).

When the plants are well established plant into good vegetable compost in large pots or grow bags in the greenhouse or outdoors (check the seed packet) and provide canes, wires or strings to train the plants up. Outdoor Cucumbers ideally need a sunny and sheltered position; these plants will need hardening off before planting out after all danger of frost has passed. Keep plants well watered and feed regularly.

I planted my seeds at the end of April and will be planting them in large pots in my greenhouse towards the end of May.

Gill

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Don’t miss out – enter our Free Childrens Competitions before the end of April

On the Gardening With Children website we currently have two free Childrens Competitions with some great Childrens Gardening Goodies to win so why not have a go before next weeks closing date on 30th April 2013.

1.  In the Family Zone and Kids Zone

This Month grab your wellies put on a warm coat, get outside, and spot 3 signs of spring for a chance to win

a fantastic Yeominis Childrens Wheelbarrow

and a pair of Childrens Embroidered Gardening Gloves

both are perfect for budding young gardeners.

For full details and how to enter take a look here.

2.  In the School Zone

All you need to do is to find 10 hidden words in our Gardening Wordsearch for a chance to win

a Kids Raised Bed Growing Table

Designed for children they are a perfect height for kids to stand at and around, to sow, grow and harvest their very own vegetables.

 

For full details and how to enter take a look here in the School Zone.

 

Have a look today and get your entries to us as soon as you can before the closing date on 30th April, 2013.

 

Gill

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Why not grow your own Strawberries this year?

This year I decided to treat myself to some new Strawberry plants, the ones on my allotment are over 3 years old and their stems have become old, woody and they will now produce less fruits, it is recommended that you replace your Strawberry plants after 3 years each time replanting in a new position or new compost if they are grown in containers.

Strawberry plants are available now in garden centres, supermarkets, on the high street and via mail order. There are so many different varieties to choose from, cropping at different times in various shapes and sizes but all of them equally delicious, why not plant a few different varieties to give a continuous crop over the Summer months and into Autumn.

Bare root runners

Yesterday a white padded envelope came through the front door, it was from one of the large seed companies, inside there were growing instructions and a small white bag containing my new Strawberry runners they didn’t look very inspiring but with a little care and attention they should produce some delicious Strawberries this Summer.

Strawberry Table

The variety I chose is ‘Buddy’ it is new this year and is ‘ever bearing’ or ‘perpetual’ which means that it will produce Strawberries over a long growing period from Spring into Autumn. After their arrival I put my bare root runners in water straightaway and then planted them individually in pots in the greenhouse in good compost to become established before planting outside. Strawberries can be grown practically anywhere – in the ground, raised beds, strawberry tables, pots, hanging baskets, troughs, window boxes and in Strawberry bags/tubs and are ideal for children to grow.

Strawberry Planter Bag

Click here for a full guide to growing your own Strawberries.

Gill

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Celebrate National Gardening Week next week 15th – 21st April

National Gardening Week was launched by the RHS to get the Nation Growing.

The benefits of gardening are felt by people of all ages and abilities and from all backgrounds, gardens promote a sense of purpose, and an escape from daily routine as well as providing valuable habitat and food for our wildlife and insects and of course good, home-grown, healthy fruit and vegetables for our table.

Throughout next week there are lots of Gardening events across the country organised by communities and groups as well as the RHS have a look at the RHS website for events near where you live.

It has been said that Britain is a nation of gardeners and I couldn’t agree more so what better way to celebrate gardening by getting involved with community groups, young peoples organisations e.g. Cubs, Brownies and with Schools and share your passion, experience and knowledge of this truly amazing pastime.

Dust off your trowel, put on your warm wellies and a good pair of gardening gloves and get gardening.

Gill

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When do you plant seed potatoes?

I have had an ‘Ask the expert enquiry ‘from Ceri Sawyer in Cumbria and one of the questions that she has asked is

What time of the year should you plant a seed potato?

I thought that I would share my reply with you -

There are three types of seed potatoes

First Earlies

Plant in late March to early April – you can expect to harvest these approx. 10 weeks after planting.

Second Earlies

Plant early to mid April – you can expect to harvest these approx. 13 weeks after planting.  

Maincrop

Plant in mid to late April – you can expect to harvest these approx. 15-20 weeks after planting.

These planting dates are a guide, if you live in the south you may be able to plant a week or two earlier or if you live in the north a couple of weeks later it also depends on our unpredictable weather which at the moment is predictably very cold, even if the ground is not frozen it is still very cold and crops simply will not grow.

Seed potatoes can be planted now in potato growing bags filled with vegetable compost and placed in a greenhouse or polytunnel where they will be protected from the weather otherwise cover your vegetable beds with black plastic or cloches to warm the soil up until there is an improvement in the weather.

When you get your ‘seed’ potatoes put them into egg boxes/seed trays with the ‘rose’ end upwards this is where you might see tiny shoots or the ‘belly button’ end facing downwards and place them in a cool, frost-free and light (not sunny) position. This is called chitting and helps the potato to produce strong buds which speeds up growing once they are planted, all seed potatoes especially first and second earlies benefit from chitting. When the shoots are about 2-3cm they are ready to plant, don’t leave it too late to buy your seed potatoes, once the weather warms up the demand will be high and your choice may be limited.

My seed potatoes are sat patiently in their egg boxes.

Gill

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Have you ‘spotted’ our NEW COMPETITION?

Why not have a go at our two free Childrens Competitions.

1.  In the Family Zone and Kids Zone

This Easter grab your wellies put on a warm coat, get outside, and spot 3 signs of spring for a chance to win

a fantastic Yeominis Childrens Wheelbarrow

and a pair of Childrens Embroidered Gardening Gloves

both are perfect for budding young gardeners.

For full details and how to enter take a look here.

2.  In the School Zone

All you need to do is to find 10 hidden words in our Gardening Wordsearch for a chance to win

a Kids Raised Bed Growing Table

Designed for children they are a perfect height for kids to stand at and around, to sow, grow and harvest their very own vegetables.

 

For full details and how to enter take a look here in the School Zone.

 

The closing date for both competitions is 30th April, 2013.

 

Gill

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Get organised for a busy gardening Easter Weekend

Before the growing season gets into full swing get organised, make plans and prepare for a busy Easter Weekend and a productive year ahead in your garden.  

Tools   Check, clean, oil and replace any that are damaged or worn, make sure that you have the right tools for all your jobs this year.

Propagators   These will soon be in full use, test yours early to check it is working properly and give it a good clean, hygiene is very important when sowing seeds. Now is an ideal time to buy one, it will be invaluable throughout the year and in years to come.

Pots, Trays and Compost   Organise your Greenhouse/Potting Shed sort through your pots and trays throw away any broken ones, give the rest a good clean as well as your potting tray, order new Seed Compost and Vegetable Compost, last year’s opened bags may not be suitable for starting off your new seeds and plants.

Watering Cans & Water Butts   Drain and clean out, check the rose on your watering can and replace if necessary, don’t be caught out by the weather invest in a Water Butt, remember the drought we had in Spring 2012.

Store your seeds in a Seed Tin

Seeds   Take stock of your seeds, discard any that are opened and out of date and order more while stocks are still available, store in a suitable Seed Tin to protect them from Mice, Pests and moisture.

Plan   Sit down with a nice cup of tea and draw a plan of your garden/vegetable patch make notes on crops that did/did not do well and where your crops where grown last year, make a new planting plan for this year rotating your crops to get the best results and to avoid problems.

 

Read   Gardening books are invaluable for reference, ideals, hints and tips for your garden/vegetable plots.

Order Early   If you need any gardening products order early whilst products are available to make sure that you have everything you need.

Make your plans and preparations now, Easter is early and it’s the busiest gardening weekend of the year, let’s hope it’s warm and dry.

Gill

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Gardening on a Budget?

We have got just the thing…

hot out of our warehouse this Spring is our new range of

Thrifty Raised Beds

At the Recycleworks we have been thinking about how to Grow your Own vegetables and fruit as easily and economically as possible whilst still getting the maximum yield from a wide range of crops, so we have developed a range of budget Raised Beds which will appeal to everyone:

• Families – the family budget is being pinched, now is the time to Grow your Own and reap the benefits
• The first time gardener – perfect starter beds and entry into Grow Your Own
• The accomplished gardener – a great product to extend your growing area
• Schools – affordable and well within the budget
• Community Groups – great for getting people involved in gardening, socialising and working together.

The beds are available in 3 sizes:

1. The Thrifty Classic – 80cm x 80cm
2. The Thrifty Long – 80cm x 105cm
3. The Thrifty Big Square – 105cm x 105cm

with a choice of three heights for each size: 14cm, 28cm, and 42cm and a choice of two colours : Chestnut or Green.

Assembly instructions are supplied with each Raised Bed.

To help you grow the maximum yield and to remove the guesswork if you are new to Grow Your Own each raised bed also comes with a growing/planting guide including ideas and tips on suggested crops, planting, positioning, watering and feeding.

To warm up the soil before planting why not add a Compost Duvet or a Raised Bed Watering Kit to make watering easier and more economical in the long summer months.

Prices start from £15.55 making them very affordable to everyone.

You will surprised at how much you can grow in such a small space – you can’t beat the taste, texture and smell of freshly picked produce.

Gill

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