Grown in Wales
31
January
It's been such a mild winter this year or at least in comparison to the last three winters. The last few days has sen a change to something much more like the seasonal norm. Although we have had no snow fall here there are cars in the village with thick wodges of the stuff on their roofs (they probably spent the night in Crymych where it always snows. I can't remember a winter where there has been quite so much activity from the wild animals that are our neighbours. During January as soon as the sun went down the foxes began to bark. Even as I write this the trees seem to be alive with Owls and every time we sow seed of coriander or sage an army of mice seem to move in for a feast.
It's the last chance now to finish all those fiddly repair jobs and to have a good hard think about the preparations for the spring. The garden centres...
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December
I think that there are two types of business. There is the type where someone has discovered a product or a sevice or something that they truly believe in and they simply have to take it out and offer it to people. The other kind is one where someone wants a business. Maybe as a money making machine or for the power it gives them or just to make a living. I think that you can tell the difference between the two and I think that sometimes a business starts out as the former and then turns into the latter.
My suspicion is that someone once ceated or found a recipe for a soft drink , thought it was wonderful and health giving and decided to market it to the world. Just because Coca Cola is now a huge corporation doesn't mean that it didn't start with someones belief in the product.
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13
December
Now don't get me wrong. I have nothing against Jamie Oliver. Someone made me a curry once from one of his recipies and it was one of the nicest curries that I have ever had. It must be a strange world that Jamie and other celebrities inhabit but as far as I know the passion that he shows for his food and his various campaigns is heartfelt, However.........
Back in the summer I popped into a Homebase store with my girlfriend to buy some paint. While she was choosing the colour I was having a nose around the garden centre. You can't really expect much from those places. They don't have the time or the in depth knowledge to properly get to grips with plants. They always seem to have an odd assortment and a very haphazard approach to plant care. There was the usual mixture of very basic plant varieties in a variety of states of health...
Read moreI felt that it might be time to pass on a few tips about what to do with our plants when you have bought them. We grow alpine plants, herbaceous plants and herb plants. Today I am going to talk about herbs and the care that they should have once you have bought them.
We only grow herbs in a large one litre sized pot. We chose this pot because it provides a plant that is big enough for you to use it in your cooking on the day that you buy it and also robust enough (unlike many supermarket herbs) to survive perfectly well in the garden. Once you get the plant home you can leave it in it's pot for a few weeks. All our plants have compost that contains a slow release fertiliser so they wont starve. At some point though you will probably want to either plant out in the garden or put your plant into a larger pot. Plants tend to thrive...
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November
We have never been so busy during the autumn period as we have been this year. Sales went on for a bit longer than we usually expect them to but after that there was such a lot of work to do to prepare the plants for winter so that we are well stocked in the spring. The count down to the first seed sowing has already begun and there is still a lot to do.
There have been cool, dry days and with the sun on them the autumn leaves have been spectacular. Between potting...
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