Emma Cooper's linklog

How to grow vegetables: simple ways to get started

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:02:38 GMT

My latest blog for The City Planter is all about how to take the strain out of starting your own vegetable patch this year.

How to grow vegetables: simple ways to get started

Planning a vegetable garden? Options for urban plots

Sun, 15 Apr 2012 10:04:56 GMT

My new blog for The City Planter looks at starting a new veg patch in the city – whether you’re short on sun, soil or space – as well as options to make it look lovely.

Planning a vegetable garden? Options for urban plots

Drought-tolerant vegetables

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:38:24 GMT

Val Bourne has written a nice piece for the Telegraph, looking at which fruits and vegetables succeeded in the dry weather last year.

Plot to beat the drought

Growing Exotic Vegetables course

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:46:58 GMT

On Thursday 2nd August, Garden Organic Ryton is running short course on growing exotic vegetables, which includes an introduction to crops such as Calaloo from Jamaica, Dudi from Bangladesh, Methi from India and Chomolia from Zimbabwe. As well as growing tips and preparation advice, you’ll take a tour of the Exotic Garden to see these plants growing.

Growing Exotic Vegetables course

Fermentation Nation

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:44:59 GMT

Alys Fowler is running a short course on fermenting at Garden Organic Ryton (in Coventry) on Saturday 8th September 2012. Click through for full details and booking instructions.

Fermentation Nation course

Jungle Seeds Seed Sowing Calendar

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:12:57 GMT

Lots of gardeners find a seed sowing calendar essential – it keeps them on track throughout the season and means that sowing/ planting and harvesting times don’t pass them by. But once you move off the beaten track it’s hard to find one that covers the more unusual vegetables, unless you make your own. But Jungle Seeds have come up with one that covers the seeds that they sell, and so includes such exotics as amaranth, orach, yard long beans and perilla alongside the more familiar vegetables. Click the link to download the PDF file.

Jungle Seeds sowing guide

Winter harvests

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:44:01 GMT

A lovely post today from a Scottish forest garden, detailing perennial plants that are still productive in winter.

Perennial winter harvests

Insect-friendly leaf mould

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:05:44 GMT

Kate Bradbury explains how to make leaf mould, and how to ensure it’s not a death trap for the local wildlife :)

Making leaf mould

Oranges are not the only fruit

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:02:54 GMT

An amusing piece on what is, and what is not, a proper fruit.

The Fruit Is A Lie

Grow your own kitchen staples

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 11:34:17 GMT

Onions and garlic are easy to grow, don’t take up much space, and needn’t be dull :)

Save a space for staples

Top 10 copyright myths

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 19:46:23 GMT

A nice summary of things that people commonly believe about copyright, but which have no basis in legal fact.

Top 10 copyright myths

Dealing with fallen leaves

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:57:05 GMT

The gorgeous colours currently clothing our trees mean that it’s only a matter of time before we’re faced with a garden clean-up session.

Six ways to use your fallen leaves

Fruit trees for small gardens

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 11:54:31 GMT

My latest post over at The City Planter magazine is on fruit trees for small gardens and containers.

Growing fruit in small spaces

Hens do the funniest things...

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 09:34:46 GMT

Patrick Vickery’s tales of the peaceful countryside – angry crows, kamikaze hens and amorous ducks.

Rural Ramblings 7: Patrick's rooster boosters

Lovely leaf mould

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 17:31:39 GMT

It’s that time of year again, folks, and I’ve got my Master Composter hat on to talk about how to make leaf mould on the BBC Gardening blog.

BBC Gardening blog: Leaf mould

Oriental vegetables for autumn

Tue, 04 Oct 2011 12:30:20 GMT

Today I am posting over at The City Planter, on Oriental vegetables you can sow and grow now to feed you through the autumn and into the winter.

Pick oriental vegetables for autumn

Going nuts

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 12:54:38 GMT

There’s increasing interest in nuts as a low-maintenance garden crop, and Martin Crawford from the Agroforestry Research Trust is sharing his thoughts on some well-known and some less familiar nuts on the BBC Gardening blog today.

It's nut season again

Sustainable foraging guidelines

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 20:00:00 GMT

Sage advice from Carl Legge on safe and respectful foraging.

Sustainable Foraging Guidelines

Composting Options

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 20:13:13 GMT

I’m blogging at The City Planter today, the online magazine for urban gardeners, with a look at all the different composting options.

Heaps of choice: composting options for urban gardeners

Eat your houseplants

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 10:43:19 GMT

A bit of a blog hopping odyssey turned up this lovely gem about a restaurant, a houseplant and a Vietnamese recipe from Berlin :)

Berlin: Houseplants for Lunch

Foraging at home

Sat, 17 Sep 2011 10:35:41 GMT

Alys Fowler is encouraging you to start foraging in your own back garden in the Guardian today, with plants that you may already have planted for their ornamental value.

Gardens: foraging in your own back yard

Does biochar work?

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:27:45 GMT

There’s a lot of debate about the effects that adding biochar to our soils might have – in the Amazon it creates very nutritious soils, but would that happen here? And can it act as a carbon sink? (I talked a bit about biochar at the end of The Peat-Free Diet.)

The Big Biochar Experiment is the first large-scale experiment on the use of biochar in British allotments and gardens. It aims to gather quantitative data on above- and below-ground productivity, and qualitative data on plant and soil health of widely used fruit and vegetable varieties in Britain. Click through to see how to get involved.

Big Biochar Experiment

Peat-Free guest post for Notcutts

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 14:09:17 GMT

I’m guest-posting on the Notcutts gardening blog today, talking about the joys of peat-free gardening.

Be Green Go Peat Free

Eat your (purple) greens

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 10:18:01 GMT

Purple carrots and the deliciousness of carrot tops – a waste-free post from Popcorn Homestead with a Japanese twist :)

Serving Up Purple Carrot Greens: Reprise

The Weleda farm-garden

Sun, 11 Sep 2011 10:55:16 GMT

Alys Fowler’s latest post for the BBC Gardening blog is all about her visit to the biodynamic Weleda farm-garden in Derbyshire, and the thriving and ecologically sound business that she found there.

Biodynamic gardening is an interesting topic, which I talked about in episode 106 of The Alternative Kitchen Garden Show, after I attended a beginner’s course at Garden Organic Ryton.

Biodynamic Gardening

New uses for jute

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 12:23:26 GMT

Jute farmers in Bangladesh are hoping to combine their age-old jute harvesting techniques with modern technology to create environmentally-friendly fabrics.

Bangladesh's 'golden fibre' comes back from the brink

Girl Power

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:10:37 GMT

Researchers have found that female chickens can control who fathers their chicks – even after having sex.

Hens evolve secret sex strategy

Grow Your Own Sweets

Sun, 04 Sep 2011 11:05:01 GMT

James Wong has turned his attention to turning your homegrown fruit and herbs into homemade sweets :)

The Home Grown Sweet Shop

Plants not to buy

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:25:45 GMT

Ken Thompson is on good form in his Telegraph column today, discussing plants that are great to have in a garden, but which are prolific, so there is no need to buy your own specimen.

Plants to grow but not to buy

Natural selection at work

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 11:22:12 GMT

A lovely recreation of one of Darwin’s experiments shows that weeds don’t have it all their own way.

The weeds are having a tough time of it too

Bison grass vodka

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 12:03:33 GMT

John Wright receives an awesome parcel and talks about grass and booze :)

How to make żubrówka

Gardening in winter

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 10:41:32 GMT

Advice on planning a productive winter garden in the Ecologist, which quotes from my new book (The Allotment Pocket Bible), How to Grow Winter Vegetables by Charles Dowding and Dave Hamilton’s Grow Your Food for Free.

How to…make your garden grow in winter

The Iraqi Seed Project

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 17:54:54 GMT

The Iraqi Seed Project is a a cross-media project concerned with sustainable agriculture in Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan and the protection of the the biodiversity of crops that originated in the region. In this article Emma Piper-Burket describes a day in Iraqi Kurdistan.

A Day Exploring the Origins of Agriculture in Iraqi Kurdistan

Bach Flower Garden

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 18:04:07 GMT

The Offshoots Permaculture Project in Lancashire is growing the 37 plants used to make Bach Flower Remedies, and you can read about the plants on their blog.

Offshoots Permaculture

In synurbia

Sun, 07 Aug 2011 13:17:56 GMT

Matt Walker introduces the investigations being made into synanthropes – species particularly associated with humans and places of human habitation. Are some species evolving in order to live with us?

Welcome to synurbia

Survival skills

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 16:05:07 GMT

Jacqueline Windh muses on which survival skills we’re really likely to need.

What it will really take to survive

Exotic smoothies

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 12:45:33 GMT

If you’re headed for Cornwall this summer, make a pitstop at the Eden Project to try one of their baobab smoothies – a taste of Africa!

The story behind our baobab smoothies

Grow Your Own Seeds

Sat, 23 Jul 2011 10:05:21 GMT

A lovely piece from Alys Fowler in the Guardian about saving seeds in the garden, not for growing, but for eating :)

Alys Fowler: Collecting seed

Yard to Table

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 12:52:49 GMT

There has been a lot of interest this week in the Oak Park resident in trouble for her front yard vegetable garden, but this is a happier front yard veggie garden story, complete with a chicken called Google :)

3 yards = 1 feat

Edible Alcatraz

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 14:03:57 GMT

Having never been to Alcatraz, I didn’t know it had gardens. Not only do the gardens have their own blog, but they have edible plants too!

Island Edibles