Stephanie's Garden Blog

This week it's all about the brassica's, planting out our sprouts, broccoli and kale now that the plants have been hardening off.

Keeping plants in both the kitchen and ornamental garden well watered during the summer can be a real challenge, so drought-afflicted gardeners across the country will be delighted to learn that we've got plenty of ideas

Despite a very wet winter, we have had lovely dry warm weather of late which has dried out the soil. April is a crucial month for garlic as the bulbs are forming ready for harvest in a couple of month?s time.

As we move further into spring it's time to take off the bubble wrap in the greenhouse and give all the glass a good clean, before the plants get too big.

Great excitement on the Harrod Horticultural stand at the Edible Garden Show last week as we received a Royal Visit from HRH Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall

Busy in the greenhouse again this week, lots of seed sowing and potting on, hopefully planting up our wooden manger planters with salads and rocket. Harvesting some early salad leaves this week too.

The warm weather has really started to move things on in the Kitchen Garden. Lots of plans for the week ahead - dividing mint plants, sowing sea kale seeds, harvesting spinach and chard, now that should keep me busy!

Sneeboer make their tools with long handles, not solely for the benefit of six-foot-two blokes. These longer handles alleviate pressure on the spine and create a lot more digging power in the garden by creating a longer lever to work with.

Three of the major pest groups likely to cause havoc in any vegetable garden or allotment are animals, birds and weeds