Haxnicks Blog

How to bake Apple Biscuits

2012-01-24T12:15:00.003Z

Post by Madeleine Cardozo

From glorious weather to weather that you can hardly stand up in because the wind has boon blowing so hard, these two extremes are a complete sample of winter life. This last week I have found that I have only been outside to do the bare necessities and that I have opted for the kitchen.

So, here is a recipe for some of the remaining apples, yes I still have some under the apple trees that I can cook with.

Apple Biscuits

These biscuits are delicious at tea time with a nice cup of tea or you can use them to jazz up a bowl of ice cream.

6oz 175g butter – soft is better

3oz 75g caster sugar

3oz 75g light brown sugar

1 egg – large

½ tsp vanilla essence

8oz 225g plain flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp bicarbonate of Soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

2 cooking apples

Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 15-20 minutes Makes 20 biscuits

1. Turn the oven on to 150°C, 300°F, Gas mark 2 (low - medium sort of heat).

2. Grease a baking sheet or two with butter.

3. Put the butter and all the sugar into an electric mixer or bowl if doing it by hand and beat until soft and creamy.

4. Slowly add the egg and vanilla essence.

5. When this is mixed in add the flour, salt, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon.

6. Peel the apples, and then grate them with a cheese grater.

7. With your hands squeeze the juice out of the grated apples. When you have done this add the apple and the oats to the mixture.

8. Mix it all in then, roll the slightly sloppy dough into large balls, flatten them and place them quite far apart onto the baking sheets. 6-8 per sheet.

9. Put in the oven for between 15-20 minutes, until the biscuits are a golden colour. Leave them on the trays for about 5 minutes and then put them on a wire rack to finish cooling.

If you have any questions about this article, or would like more kitchen garden recipes then please get in touch via the comments boxes below. You can also send an email to Madeleine via lovetogrow@haxnicks.co.uk.

Sowing Broad Beans and using Manure

2012-01-12T14:15:00.000Z

This weather has been so glorious that there is no excuse – for anyone not working - not to be out there in the sunshine doing jobs, planning things and moving on with the New Year.

Get your compost out and start sowing whatever you dare. I would suggest that you can now sow some varieties of tomatoes, sweet peas and broad beans.

Broad Beans

Sow the tomatoes into shallow seed trays and the broad beans and sweet peas into something deeper like rootrainers. Watch my video on YouTube for a step by step guide!

Cover them both with some kind of frost protection, I often bring mine inside and put them onto a windowsill, but a greenhouse if you have one will do the trick.

Using manure in the garden

Manure must be over six months old before you use it in the garden otherwise it is too powerful and can kill or damage plants. I put manure over my vegetable patch and just leave it there, except where the root vegetables go such as potatoes, carrots etc. I also put manure at the base of young trees, roses and just about everywhere to give it all an extra natural feed. If you don’t have manure yourself you can get it from local farmers, livery yards or garden centres.

Lastly there has been so much wind that I have constantly been doing a twig clear up and fixing fallen fences. Now is a good time just to tidy up generally. The fresh air is so good for you!

WIN £100 & Haxnicks goodies

2012-01-04T09:00:00.008Z

Potato Growing Competition

You could win £100 and a bundle of Haxnicks grow your own goodies.

All you have to do is send us pictures of your Haxnicks’ potato planter full of plants (or home grown potatoes) - it couldn't be easier.

Don't fret if yours don't flower as you'd hoped - there are a couple of other ways to win:

Growing the Hugest Harvest – How many tatties can you grow in one planter? Send us an image of the potatoes laid out on the ground next to or on top of your planter.

Super Spud – photograph your largest potato on a flat surface next to a ruler or tape measure on top of the Haxnicks’ potato planter it was grown in. Extra snaps of how you grew it would definitely help your chances.

How to enter
You will need:

• A pack of Haxnicks Potato Planters

• Some Seed Potatoes

• 40 litres of compost per planter

• A camera to record your progress

When you come to harvest your potatoes (from June for early crops), email pictures of your produce to: lovetogrow@haxnicks.co.uk. Alternatively, you can write to us at Haxnicks Ltd, Beaumont Business Centre, Woodlands Road, Mere, Wiltshire BA12 6BT.

You can also use our Facebook or Google+ pages to post comments and photos.

Check out our neat 'how-to' YouTube video to help you get started with planting your very own potatoes. Click here to see the potato planter (pictured, right) product page or here to find your nearest stockist.

Be sure to take photographs of your progress so you can prove that the potatoes were grown by your own fair hands, but if you get stuck let us know.

Images submitted may be used on www.haxnicks.co.uk, www.facebook.com/haxnicks and in promotional material. Any personal details we receive from you, however, shall be kept strictly confidential and remain on our files only.

Follow or search the blog for further information, tips and updates. Good luck!

Merry Haxmas

2011-12-21T16:59:00.000Z

We would like to wish everyone one of our customers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

We've had a momentous year and 2011, our 15th year in business will go down as one of our busiest ever.

If you're in the snow, sun, rain or cloud we hope you enjoy the holiday period and have a wonderful time with your families or without (if you prefer!).

As a gift to those of you that aren't able to buy your products from your local garden centres, we have decided to run a special January Sale on the website from the 26th December.

December gardening jobs

2011-12-10T09:00:00.000Z

Blog post by Madeleine

The garden has not been very inviting over the last few weeks. It just seems to be tidying up jobs that need to be done and as there is no rush for this, they tend to get put off.

Things that really do need your attention are the hoses that need to be put away. Cover any pot that you have which are not frost proof with jute material, or fleece, this will stop them from cracking. Lifting them off the ground with blocks of wood or special ceramic feet are also good ideas. A lot of these pots are made for the Mediterranean not England! Also cover any plants such as palms/fragile lavenders with fleece jackets that are made for this job.

Now very importantly, decide what you want for Christmas and let a few hints get dropped – a new pair of gloves – some cloches – a pair of secateurs. Look at the seed catalogues and decide what you want to grow next year. This is indoor gardening and all needs to be done, so why not when it is cold and wet outside. Some seeds such as tomatoes and peppers need to be sown as soon as January so watch out.

If you would like to see our christmas gift ideas, click here

LAST DAY FOR GUARANTEED WEB DELIVERIES IS 16TH DECEMBER

What to do with used compost from your Patio Planters

2011-12-07T10:07:00.000Z

Blog post by Robbie

Patio Planters that were once filled with beautiful flowering peas, towering tomatoes and luscious lettuces, are now completely bare - so, what now?

You can use your 'spent' compost again, but it will be fairly deficient in nutrients and if the plants you grew had any pest or disease related problems you may find these come back and effect the next lot.

It is usually best to use multipurpose compost from the garden centre to ensure your plants are getting the best possible start.

What to do with 'old' compost:

Use as a Mulch* for trees and bushes
Top-dressing for raised beds and borders

Or alternatively:

Add to compost heap
Offer to members of your local allotment

Be careful if you've added any stones or gravel to the bottom of your planters - you may want to try and separate that from the rest of the compost before using it for another purpose. If your crops were unaffected by disease or pests then you could just leave the gravel mix in the bottom for next time.

If you would like any further information or have your own comments, please feel free to add them below...

* Mulch is 'garden jargon' for adding a protective layer over soil. Doing this helps to retain moisture, provide nutrients and suppress weed growth or weed seed germination.

Pippa's New Products!

2011-12-02T09:44:00.000Z

She is one of the UK's most loved gardening experts, solving the nations gardening problems every week on BBC Radio 4's Gardener's Question Time, writing articles and blogs for Gardener's World, whilst also running a fantastic web site that has just been updated with a brand new shop section.

www.pippagreenwood.com/products

The items included for sale on her web site are all essential items, hand picked by Pippa.

So if you're curious to know which Haxnicks products meet her seal of approval, click on the link/picture and take a look!

How to make Mulled Pears

2011-11-29T12:43:00.001Z

Excerpt from 'Plot to Pot' by Madeleine Cardozo

To Bottle or not to bottle...
It is all very well enjoying the fruits of the garden during the summer months, but of course you can enjoy them in the winter as well by storing them, this is a great last minute pudding, all you have to do is to take out of the cupboard and serve it either warm or cold. Mulled pears are delicious with vanilla ice cream, cream or crème fraîche.

Preparation: 20 minutes | Cooling time: 40 minutes | Serves: 8

Ingredients:

4lbs (1.8kg) firm pears

1 orange

1 lemon

2 cinnamon sticks

12 cloves

5cm (2") piece of fresh root ginger

11 oz (300g) granulated sugar

1 bottle of fruity red wine

- top this up with water if necessary

Directions:
v Preparation:

Ø Peel the pears, but keep their stalks.

Ø Peel the rinds of the lemon and orange using a potato peeler.

v To Bottle:

Ø Stuff as many pears as you can into your storage bottles.

Ø Divide the spices and rinds between the bottles.

Ø Put the sugar and wine into a pan and heat up on a low heat until all the sugar has been dissolved. Then boil for 5 minutes.

Ø Pour the wine syrup completely covering the pears.

Ø Secure the lids.

Ø Put into the oven and cook for about 30 minutes at 100˚C/200˚F/gas mark 3

Ø Take the jars out, watch out because they are extremely hot.

Ø When they are cool check that the seal on the jars has worked. You can do this by gently trying to open the jar, if it is not possible they are sealed.

v Not to Bottle:

Ø Put all the pears into a pan, add the spices sugar and wine.

Ø Put a lid on.

Ø Simmer the pears for approximately 20 minutes.

Ø When the pears are cooked, you can either serve them hot or let them cool.

'Plot to Pot' is out now - available online and in garden centres and bookshops (check with our stockists first).

Click to find out more

5 Easy Ways to protect your plants from frost

2011-11-18T19:55:00.003Z

Post by Robbie
Although you can never completely eradicate the threat of frost damage to the plants in your garden, you can at least use these helpful tips as a guide to prepare for the worst:

1. Group plants together Choose a location at the top of the garden facing north, west or south. Plants in containers may be grouped together so that You can easily create a microclimate for your plants which allow them to provide shelter for each other and make it easier for you to cover and water them in one go.

2. Cover plants in Fleece Make sure you cover plants in fleece or hessian/jute. This will protect them from frost and allow light and moisture to filter through. If you want to make it even easier, you can use fleece jackets such as the one in the picture, which just pull over the top and fasten at the bottom. Note: Pots (especially terracotta ones) can suffer from frost damage so make sure you cover these in the same way.

3. Move tender plants to the greenhouse or indoors if you have the space. You can also overwinter (gardening jargon for plant hibernation) by covering them with a cold frame, plant house or a polythene grower system cover.

4. Use mother nature! It sounds crazy, but in fact snow can help to insulate your plants, especially from cold drying winds. Make sure you still clear snow from tree branches and conservatory/greenhouse roofs, though, as snow can become heavy and cause damage. Use mulch (old leaves, home made compost) and straw to provide natural cover for tree roots, especially evergreens in pots and with roots above the surface of the soil.

5. Keep plants watered In the winter plants lose moisture in the cold, dry air so make sure you water them if they need it and this will improve their natural defense against the harsh effects of winter weather. Too much water (rainwater included) is a bad thing though - you don't want the ground around the roots to freeze.

We are well known for being experts in plant protection - so why not drop us a line or comment in the box below if you have any questions, would like more details or even if you have your own tried and tested tips for protecting your plants from cold weather.

What to do with your pumpkin seeds

2011-11-05T09:56:00.000Z

Post by Madeleine Cardozo

I am really hoping that you didn’t just throw away all those wonderful pumpkins seeds.

I keep about 50 of them, placed in a saucer to dry out on the windowsill ready for sowing in April next year.

With the rest you can bake them and eat them as a nutritious snack:

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Separate the seeds from the flesh of the pumpkin but don’t wash.
Place them onto a baking tray
Pour a little olive oil over them and then sprinkle with salt
Mix them about.
Put them into the oven (375°F, gas mark 5, 190°C) for about 20 minutes until they are golden brown. You can keep them for months but they will tend to lose their flavour after 6 weeks.

Haxfact!: Pumpkin seeds are a super food full of iron, zinc, calcium and magnesium and are also a source of protein and omega 3.

Storing Apples
If you want to store apples, you need to store them directly from the tree. The apples need to be handled very carefully, each one wrapped in newspaper and then place in a dark cool place such as a shed, cellar or garage. They need to go somewhere where they will not be disturbed until you need them. Alternatively you can peel, core and slice them, then put them in the freezer ready for that wonderful French apple tart that you are dying to make.

Other things to do in the garden this week:
If you would like onions for the summer you had better get your skates on and plant out the sets now.
You can still sow winter lettuces under cloches, when these have come up plant them out in the greenhouse or under poly tunnels, my rocket is doing amazingly well.

The next post will be about protecting your garden from frost and winter weather - subscribe to the blog to be notified as soon as it has been posted!

Madeleine's Corner: Get the Cloches Out!

2011-10-20T10:48:00.000+01:00

Post by Madeleine Cardozo

As a result of rapidly cooling temperatures, the amount of growth in the garden has slowed down enormously. This has meant that I have been a little lazy recently. So I forced myself to go outside and see what needed to be done. There was so much.

Mowing needed to be done around the vegetable patch, weeding around the lettuces and rocket. It's important to harvest as much as you can and either freeze the vegetables or store them.
Throw a little soil over the tops of the carrots to stop them going rubbery or green and I am happy to report that there are fewer caterpillars gnawing at my purple sprouting broccoli than last week.

Courgettes, squash and pumpkins need to be on placed onto something solid like a tile or paving, they do not want to linger on the damp soil for too long as they will rot. This is a way of hardening the skins and they could last for a few months if you let them ‘dry’ in the sun.

I really want to grow tulips and spring flowering bulbs, but I always seem to lose them and not look after them in my flower beds so I thought why not plant them in a space in the vegetable patch, they would have flowered by May which is when you begin to plant out your summer vegetables, so perhaps I can do both.

So I cleared a patch, fed it with old manure, spent a few bob on matching coloured tulips and now I will wait and see what happens.

Use cloches and small poly tunnels to keep your rocket and lettuce warm and growing. Spinach is hardy so you can leave that to the elements.

Lastly, collect your seeds! I wonder round the garden every now and then with a couple of envelopes, in them I put seeds from flowers and vegetables. Or if I cut up a courgette, tomato, bean or melon, I put them on a saucer and let them dry on the window sill and then put them into an envelope for next Spring. It saves you lots of money so why not.

Any questions related to this post, as ever, let us know in the comments box below and we'll answer as soon as we can.

Sowing Salads for Winter

2011-10-05T16:59:00.007+01:00

Blog post by Robbie

The weather is currently so mild here in Wiltshire that I have already taken full advantage by sowing some 'Lamb's Lettuce' or Corn Salad.

Sowing
The back of the packet will say to sow seeds at fortnightly intervals from late summer to late autumn (so not beyond November) in a sunny position and well drained soil.

Because it's warm at the moment I've sown mine directly into a (25cm high, 45cm diameter) patio planter with special drainage holes. The packet says I should sow in drills 12mm (½in) deep and 15cm (6in) apart every two weeks. I like being different so I am largely ignoring this advice in favour of creating a spiral effect by sowing from the middle outwards, a new ring every fortnight.

Thinning out
This is garden-jargon and it refers to the process of removing weaker seedlings to make room for stronger ones. Basically, when the seedlings spring up you will notice that they might be quite crowded. Especially if you're a crazy sowing maverick like I am and put too many in one spot!
You can't transplant them (plant them elsewhere), as we are outside of the growing season and they really won't like being disturbed. Don't fret though - there are likely to be over 500 seeds in your packet so plenty to go round!

Winter cropping
The lettuce should make it through the winter outside if it's in a sheltered sunny position. However, I'm taking no chances and will be protecting my crop from frost using a cloche or fleece blanket. I must also make sure they are kept moist - but if they are too wet the crops will likely freeze if left standing in a pool of water.

Why don't you try sowing your own winter salad? I managed to find this one online, but is sure to be sold by any one of our stockists.

Good luck and please comment below if you are also sowing winter salads or have a question to ask...

Madeleine's Corner: Harvesting vegetables & making leaf mould

2011-10-03T15:42:00.002+01:00

Post by Madeleine Cardozo

This week we have all had a new lease of life in the garden, the plants are growing like mad as this extra bit of warmth has given them another chance. If you were worried about your tomatoes never ripening or your squash not getting large enough, your worries are over!

So back to the nitty gritty of harvesting to keep your crops coming, like courgettes, raspberries, rocket and beans. Clear any unwanted weeds from the bases of your vegetables and while it is still dry mow the grass.
Water anything you have in the greenhouse regularly as this weather is drying everything fast.

Leaves are starting to fall and it is a good time of year to make leaf mould. To do this rake up the damp leaves and put it into aerated bags, you can use a bin liner having stabbed lots of holes into it or you can buy fairly cheaply jute ones that look much nicer and rot down completely. In a years’ time from now this will have decomposed to a wonderful compost that is incredibly good for your vegetables.

There is a 'comedy gardener' called Rabbie, who shows you how to use the sacks in YouTube video if you like that sort of thing.

As you harvest more and more you will obtain space in your patch, I recommend forking it over, some people like the no dig method, but not me, it doesn't seem thorough enough. Do this little by little, 20 minutes at a time, as you do not want to spend the next few weeks nurturing a bad back. Add any well rotted compost/manure to it as you go along.

Plant: garlic, onions, sweet peas, broad beans, lettuce, rocket and radishes.

Any questions, please put them in the comments box below!

Madeline's Corner: Havesting Potatoes, Pickled Pears and something brutal about Tomatoes!

2011-09-16T09:51:00.005+01:00

Well I don’t know about you but for me it has been a blustery week and I have been forcing myself to go out and get fresh air and to keep up the garden in a minimalistic way. I do feel that as soon as it is nice you should spend hours in the garden and when it is horrid only do the bare minimum.

So I have been harvesting potatoes, putting them into jute storage bags and then hanging them in the dry part of the garden shed. You can do the same with your beetroot, carrots etc, but only if they are suffering in the ground. If they are still growing, I would leave them in the ground for as long as possible, until the first frosts.

I have also been harvesting pears and bottling them, apples and freezing them in slices or bottling them, raspberries and freezing them. I am collecting enough raspberries to make jam, but it will take me about a week.

Get rid of any unwanted pea and bean plants, some of my beans turned to rubber - as they do when they become old – so I have got rid of them onto the compost heap. In this space I have planted out more rocket.

Now many of you will be worried about your tomatoes ripening. I cut off all the flowers and ½ of the leaves, I have been brutal, but I believe that all the energy now created will head towards the fruit and help to ripen them. If this doesn’t work them I find that green tomato chutney makes an excellent Christmas present.

Glee 2011

2011-09-14T09:44:00.031+01:00

This year's Glee was a real triumph for us. We managed to see most of our customers and they were all very complimentary on our new products, especially the Unidomes, which we are currently taking bespoke orders for. Three domes were on display around the exhibition, as well as our victorian bells and other garden care products in the 'Off the Shelf' display. All in all a very positive show - see you all next year!

Information for those that attended and would like to contact us:

Any general enquiries should go through our sales office sales@haxnicks.co.uk or 0845 241 1555 where Emily, Ali or Danielle will be very happy to speak to you.

If you are a retailer and would like to speak to our Sales Director, Malcolm Andrews, he can also be reached through 0845 241 1555 or malcolm@haxnicks.co.uk

If you wanted to discuss Unidomes, please address enquiries for the attention of Tom via sales@haxnicks.co.uk

What You Should Have Done Last Week in your vegetable Patch – Or NOW

2011-08-18T10:20:00.001+01:00

Don’t down tools just yet fellow gardeners, there are still more seeds to plant, still more to harvest, still more to store. Plant another batch of lettuce and rocket, plant radishes and chard. This is still a good time for germinating, but watch out for the slugs as when it is wet they hide under the leaves of your vegetables. If you feel that the nights are getting a little cold by all means use a poly tunnel this will definitely prolong the season.

Pick off any caterpillars that are lurking underneath your cabbage or broccoli leaves, I find it easier and more successful doing this by hand rather than by using some kind of spray, it doesn’t take that long either.

I have pulled up all of my onions and garlic, they have been drying nicely in the sun and now my six year old son and I have tied them into wonderfully French bunches – We feel very professional! You do this by getting a piece of twine about 1m in length, then tie on each onion individually. Make sure that the neck of the onion is tied off tightly, this will keep the onion moist, and help it to last.

At the moment I am harvesting courgettes, lettuce, rocket, tomatoes, basil, climbing French beans, runner beans, potatoes, raspberries, plums and a few apples.

Madeleine's Corner: Picking Courgettes, Herbs and Raspberries

2011-07-27T09:43:00.001+01:00

This week my courgettes have started to enter our lives – they are ready to be picked when they are small 10cm (4”) as baby courgettes or as large as 30cm (12”). I normally go for something in between. There are so many different ways of eating courgettes, I shall include a new recipe in an adjacent article.

If you are like me and have planted nasturtiums as a companion plant in your vegetable patch, did you realise that you can eat the flower in a salad, or add them to a bacon sandwich to give them a fiery taste?

Herbs need trimming, weather it is a perennial like rosemary or an annual like basil, so if you are not trimming them to eat, you should trim them so that they don’t grow leggy and start to flower. Trimming them will encourage a better bushier plant.

Autumn fruiting varieties of raspberries will now be beginning to fruit, don’t let the birds get them, either place a net over them or get some birdscare ribbon. I find that the ribbon works for me; others may need something a little more in the way of a fruit cage.

Madeleine's Corner: Harvesting and Storing

2011-07-01T16:54:00.001+01:00

I found that last week I spent a huge amount of my time harvesting my crops, this is one of the most prolific times of the year everything is shouting ‘I’m ready pick me, eat me, store me!’ So by now your redcurrants, blackcurrants and possibly gooseberries should be harvested.

You need to pull up any lettuces or rocket that has bolted and replace them by planting out another batch to keep you going through the summer. Some carrots/beetroot may be ready, when they are small they are so sweet and delicious, if you are going to cook them, cook them briefly and the flavour that you get from them will be so much better. You can also use the small beetroot leaves for salads.

Keep anything you have in the greenhouse well watered, although limp plants can come back to life after being watered. Watering in the evening is the best time to water as it gives the plants the whole night in which to soak it up. Last week I made, strawberry sorbet with mint, gooseberry fool, and I froze the majority of my broad beans – otherwise they were going to get too big and bitter.

This is a fantastic time of year, the time when all gardeners want to show off their years work, now is the time to make yummy broad bean salads, have warm new potatoes, and summer puddings galore. Weed your patches. Harvest your crops, eat them, share them or store them.

Storing – Blanch any peas or beans and put them in the deep freeze. Freeze any berries you don’t have time to eat. You can also freeze elderflowers to make elderflower cordial later on in the summer.

Look at your tomatoes and check that they haven’t sprouted any extra branches; otherwise all the energy into making tomatoes will go into making more leaves. So, you do this by looking at the main stem of the tomato, branches should come off that, but only 1 branch. If there are two or more, pinch out the inner branches with your thumb and index finger. Also make sure that the tomato is well secured to the plant support, by using Haxnicks SoftTie.

I have had great problems with finding more spinach to sow as it is not readily available like a lot of herbs or tomato seeds are. This is a good time to sow more of these to see you into the autumn. How about another batch of radishes?

Go to the garden centre and see what tickles your fancy in the way of seeds, because it would be so nice to have some winter and spring crops too.

Madeleine's Corner: Feast or Famine

2011-06-15T16:46:00.002+01:00

Well it seems to be feast or famine with the rain, watering was not an issue last week! At least here in Wiltshire anyhow.

The peas, broad beans, lettuces are all ready for harvesting. If you have too many lettuces – give some away, they won’t last. Hopefully you have another lot coming up soon.

If you planted beetroot, you can use some of the smaller leaves in a salad. You may also need to thin out your beetroot, cooking the little golf ball sized ones, leaving space in the ground for the others to grow. Keep the edges of your patches under control, the grass is still growing and before you know it, it has invaded your patch and is spreading weeds.

The fruits and berries have been unbelievable. There have been so many I haven’t known what to do with them. So pick them all before the birds and slugs beat you and put them into the deepfreeze waiting until you have time to either make a jam or incorporate them into a pudding. Remember that Strawberries come out like jelly if you freeze them.

Keep an eye on the slugs, greenfly and caterpillars. Pinch off any caterpillars, re-home the slugs, and I suppose spray the greenfly. Do it or you will lose your crops. Slugs come out at dusk, so if you are really keen take a torch. Sow some more carrots for the winter and some more basil to see you through the summer.

WIN Haxnicks Easy Tunnels with Kitchen Garden Magazine

2011-06-14T14:26:00.000+01:00

The July issue of Kitchen Garden Magazine contains a fantastic competition to win £75 worth of Giant Easy Tunnels!

To win the set of tunnels pictured, all you need to do is buy a copy of Kitchen Garden Magazine (available from garden centres, newsagents and supermarkets). Turn to page 91 for the above prize information, and then on to page 101 to fill in the form to enter. Alternatively, you can visit Kitchen Garden's Web site competition area and enter online.

Good luck!

Madeleine's Corner: Glorious English Summer

2011-06-08T16:28:00.005+01:00

Glorious English Summer – well it is one minute and then not the next. One is never sure whether to water the garden or will the Good Lord do it for you? Just make sure if you can help it that it is neither feast nor famine. Lack of water means that your crops such as spinach and lettuce bolt: so water evenly. Anyhow, Last week there was an awful lot of weeding to be done, if you don’t do it the weeds take all the energy from the soil and your peas turn out more like pinheads, and your carrots will never grow. Which reminds me thin your carrots, I know this seems harsh but it’s worth it. Thin them to 1 every 2” 5cm.

I use Haxnicks Speedhoe for saving energy and time weeding, and Haxnicks Micromesh to protect Carrots from Carrot Fly (especially important when thinning out as the Carrot Fly will no doubt get a whiff off the seedlings that have been removed).

Cover any berries you have with netting, Bamboo Fruit Cages or rig up some Birdscare or old CD’s so that the birds don’t beat you to the crop, once they discover them there won’t be any left for you. Pick and eat Rhubarb, soft fruits, lettuces, broad beans and asparagus, pick some of the small beetroot leaves for a salad. Take the last of your plants to be planted outside and get them in the vegetable patch. Sow another batch of lettuce (if you do this monthly you will get lettuces all year round), rocket and radishes.

How to secure your plants with Soft-Tie ~ Plus WIN a free pack!

2011-06-02T17:05:00.000+01:00

Haxnicks' Soft-Tie is a special reusable rubber compound coated wire that has a never ending list of uses in the home and garden.

Here we are going to show you how you can use it to train your Tomatoes, Sunflowers, Sweet Peas, Runner Beans, Grapevines or any other plant that might need to be secured as it shoots up.

Cut off lengths of Soft-Tie with a pair of wire cutters, or a pair of pliers that are designed to cut wire as above.

You may then tie your plants on to your supports (in this case a bamboo cane). Be careful that you don't tie them too tightly.

Perhaps you might want to create more of a gap between support and plant. Why not try this fancy technique?

If you are trying to train a climbing plant along a piece of fence or trellis, simply tie the plant stem along at regular intervals. Use the above picture as a rough guide if you like.

Watch the amazing Soft-Tie YouTube video here.

Haxnicks Soft-Tie - durable, flexible, reusable. Choose from Original, Woody, Slim and Slim Woody.

If you would like to WIN a roll of Soft-Tie, simply become a follower of this blog and we will contact you to arrange delivery of your free gift!

Sowing Carrots the Easy Way

2011-05-17T14:24:00.004+01:00

So you want to grow your own Carrots? Well, not only do we sell Carrot Planters that make it easy to grow perfectly formed carrots on your patio, we've also got some helpful advice on how to get started:


Step 1: Add a layer of gravel to the bottom of your planter, just level with the drainage holes.	Step 2: Add multipurpose compost up to 4cm/1½ inches from the top of the Planter and water if very dry.

Step 3: Mark out 2 trenches 1/2 inch/13mm deep 6ins/15cm apart. I’ve used a bamboo cane here, but you can use a 'dibber' or even a finger if you like!	Step 4: Empty seeds into the palm of your hand – this will make it easier to space the seeds out when you go to sow them in the ‘drills’ you made.

SOW LIKE THE EXPERTS: Starting with the little finger, roll each digit in a 'mexican wave' fashion so that the seeds roll off the side of your palm. This takes a bit of practice, so try doing it on a folded sheet of paper first.

Remember to sow thinly, carrots need space and 'thinning out' will only increase the risk of attracting carrot fly.

Cover over the drills you made with compost and water using a watering can. Make sure the ‘rose’ head attachment is fixed on securely so you don’t wash all the seeds away!

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Haxnicks at the Malvern Spring Show

2011-05-12T13:04:00.000+01:00

Kim Aldred (Assistant to the Sales Director) will be running the Haxnicks stand again this year, and would like to welcome all of the visitors to her favourite spring event.

"Malvern is such a great show - you get to meet so many gardening enthusiasts, young and old - and there are also loads of bargains to be had. I love it!"

Kim's sister Danielle preparing the stand with Tom

Kim and her team are on hand to answer any questions you may have about Haxnicks products and competitions.

They can be found at stand number 514 at The Malvern Spring Show from 12th - 15th May.

Growing Potatoes: 'Earthing Up'

2011-04-22T12:57:00.003+01:00

In a previous blog we encouraged you to try 'chitting' - how are you getting on? Here's how the official Haxnicks potato planter is doing - not bad, but we are sure you can do better, especially with this next piece of advice:

Tip: 'Earthing Up'
In terms of your Haxnicks Potato Patio Planter - this is the process of adding more soil around the stems of your potato plant to encourage the plants to produce more tubers. Simply keep adding compost as the plants grow!

If you would like to win £100 and other Haxnicks goodies simply by growing potatoes - check out our Great Potato Gold Rush Competition.

Learn more about using Potato Patio Planters here

Don't forget to keep watering your Potatoes and let us know how you get on!