Author: David Domoney

How to: plant and grow a vegetable garden in tubs and containers

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Grow Swiss chard in containers

You don’t need an allotment to grow your own veg. You don’t need a large garden, or a designated veg patch.

All you need to enjoy the taste of fresh veg at home is a few tubs.

There are loads of crops that thrive in containers. You can grow them on patios, balconies, windowsills, driveways and in conservatories.

Tomatoes are the first one that springs to mind. They are nearly always grown in growbags, and smaller varieties work well in hanging baskets. But why stop there? Get growing carrots, beetroot, potatoes, salad leaves and dwarf French beans in containers!

Getting started

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Potatoes need deep containers

The type and size of container depends on the crop you wish to grow. Underground veg like carrots and potatoes need deep soil, so choose a tall container. Salads, beans, peas and beetroot need less depth, so you can use something wider and shallower.

Pick the right spot for the container before you fill it with peat-free compost and plants as it may be too heavy to move. Choose a sunny, sheltered position – ripening vegetables don’t like to be in the shade.

Make sure you have plenty of drainage material like rocks, gravel and broken pottery at the bottom of the container before adding any soil or peat-free compost. This will ensure good drainage and prevent the soil from becoming waterlogged, which will rot the roots.

Once you’ve planted up your container with young vegetable plants, spread a layer of mulch on the surface of the soil to help retain moisture and keep weeds at bay.

Care and maintenance

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Grow salad leaves against a wall

Container-grown vegetables will need a little more attention than those in the garden. Make sure you feed and water the plants regularly. Stake the plants where necessary to give support and keep a vigilant lookout for pests and disease.

You’ll need to water daily, especially in warmer weather to ensure the soil doesn’t dry out. Vegetable plants need to have a frequent supply of water and nutrients to produce that tasty veg!

Pest control

There are always unwelcome visitors on the lookout for your young vegetable plants so pest protection is paramount.Try using natural measures to control the slugs like sticking a ring of self-adhesive copper tape around the containers. Slugs won’t cross this material because it gives them a small electric shock. Or setting beer traps.

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Stop slugs and snails eating your crops

Or sprinkle a ring of sharp grit or crushed eggshells around the base of the plants or around the containers themselves to deter slugs and snails.

Check regularly for caterpillars which may appear on the underside of the leaves and remove them by hand (wear gloves if you don’t want to touch them!)

You can even deter bugs with some clever planting! Put a few marigolds among your tomato plants to deter whitefly.

Or try planting several different vegetables in the same container as this seems to confuse pests. For instance, plant spring onions alongside lettuce and carrots.

Get growing your own!

More and more of us are growing our own veg for lots of different reasons. The cost of food keeps rising, and people are becoming more concerned with food miles and the use of commercial pesticides.

But most importantly, we all want the vegetables we eat to be as fresh and tasty as possible. And nothing tastes as good as veg you’ve grown you’re your own hands. With a little effort, you will literally reap the rewards!

Bon appetit!

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For more garden planting ideas, check out my blog:

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Or check out my Pinterest board for more ideas:

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filter_saturation_hover=”100″ filter_brightness_hover=”100″ filter_contrast_hover=”100″ filter_invert_hover=”0″ filter_sepia_hover=”0″ filter_opacity_hover=”100″ filter_blur_hover=”0″]https://new.daviddomoney.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Easy-vegetables-feature-500×750.jpg[/fusion_imageframe][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” top_margin=”30px” alignment=”center” /][fusion_button link=”https://new.daviddomoney.com/10-best-easy-grow-vegetables-beginners/” target=”_self” alignment=”center” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” color=”custom” button_gradient_top_color=”rgba(1,149,51,0)” button_gradient_bottom_color=”rgba(1,149,51,0)” button_gradient_top_color_hover=”#0e540f” button_gradient_bottom_color_hover=”#0e540f” accent_color=”#0e540f” accent_hover_color=”#ffffff” border_color=”#0e540f” border_hover_color=”#ffffff” size=”large” stretch=”yes” 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April 29, 2014
Visiting school gardening winners Cranberry Academy

Cranberry Academy in Cheshire has been awarded the title of ‘most inspiring event’ as part of the ‘Get Your Grown-ups Growing’ campaign run by the RHS Campaign for School Gardening.

And I had the honour of presenting them with their prize on 1 May: a fantastic Hartley Botanic Wisley 8 greenhouse worth £4000!

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Scarecrows made by Cranberry Academy pupils

Get Your Grown-ups Growing is a great initiative for school gardening. Throughout October, schools invite parents, grandparents, carers, friends and members of the local community to help pupils in the garden.

Cranberry Academy made the event extra special. They devoted a whole week to gardening, and challenged each class to design the best scarecrow, wind chime, insect house and recycled planter.

When the grown-ups came along, they helped pupils build two new raised beds and plant 100 spring bulbs, 100 onion sets and sow over 30 pea plants!

The academy now hopes to use the greenhouse to focus on edible gardening. Teaching assistant Jane Sawdon said the school wanted all children to know how to sow, grow, harvest and cook their own food.

The school also plans to install water butts and compost bins, and plant potatoes, vegetables, soft fruit shrubs and a 14 tree fruit orchard.

It’s fantastic to see so many children getting inspired by gardening, and to see parents, relatives and the local community pitching in to help out.

Last year over 1900 schools joined the Get Your Grown-ups Growing campaign. This year’s campaign launched on Thursday 1 May, and I hope even more schools will take part in such a fantastic initiative.

To find out how to get involved, click here.

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April 28, 2014
Beekeeping: The day the bees moved into their new hive

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About a year ago, I took a 12 week course at the British Beekeepers Association in Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, to learn about keeping your own bees.

We have a declining bee population in the UK, and I believe it’s up to everybody to do their bit to help. And to be honest, I’d always fancied the idea of keeping bees. And finally, I’ve got a hive full of bees in my garden!

Among the blossom

I decided to situate the bees in the corner of my garden where I had recently planted a little micro orchard of mini fruit. It includes apple, pear, cherry and almond trees, and makes the perfect home for my new bees.

My first step was to get a little a beehive. I had it made by a local hive maker out of beautiful red cedar wood.

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The hive surrounded by orchard blossom

Now I just needed some bees. My friend Brian, who’s been a beekeeper for 50 years and is mentoring me, helped my find somebody who was selling a nucleus. This is a little bee colony with a queen and her brood which needs a new home.

I actually have two beehives: one with the nucleus and another empty one. Rather than buying bees to fill it, I’m leaving it available to a swarm of bees that naturally finds itself looking for new home.

Here come the bees

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The bees arrive!

I was beside myself with anticipation, and the bees finally arrived this week in a little box. In fact, the owner had driven over with the box on his front seat. I can’t tell you how excited I was to see my bees! It was just like being a kid again.

The guys who came to help me settle the bees in took the box over to the hive and opened it. They used a little smoke from a canister to calm the bees down.

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Smoke from the canister stops them getting agitated

Then they took out the individual frames and slotted them into the beehive.

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A frame on the way to its new home

It was a marvellous feeling to see the bees settling into their new home. The best thing was seeing some of the bees immediately set off to explore the orchard and heading straight for the fruiting cherry blossoms!

Once all the frames were in, the beehive lid went back on the top. Then we put a little green mat down as a ramp to help some of the stragglers crawl up and into their new home. They seemed very happy with it!

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The stragglers catch up!

Suited up

There is that initial trepidation, if you’ve never been so close to a beehive before, of suddenly getting caught in a swarm of bees. And the sound of them flying about is as alarming as it is fascinating!

The swarm of bees suddenly appears all around you, and you really have to trust in your suit and gloves and just keep calm.

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Trying out my new beekeeper’s suit

I’m still trying to get used to these bee suits – they look a bit cumbersome but they’re very easy to use.

It helped that I’m a scuba diver, and have taken part in hundreds of dives, so I’m comfortable in the suit and trust that it will keep me safe.

Exploring the orchard

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The bees wasted no time finding tasty pollen!

It was an amazing experience to see the bees settling into their new home and getting used to the area. And now that corner of the garden, full of bees and blossom and fruit trees, just has so much more personality. It’s really come alive.

They are just getting used to the neighbourhood, and we could have our own honey by this time next year!

I’m officially a beekeeper. And I can’t tell you how excited I am! I’m looking forward to writing more blogs to keep you updated on how the bees are getting on!

Get your own bees

Keeping bees isn’t as difficult as you think! For those of you interested in having a go, try the British Beekeepers Association – they do a very good comprehensive training session. For more information, check out their website.

If you want to help the bee population but don’t want a hive, check out how to create a bumblebee house or solitary bee nest here, and find plants to attract bees and pollinators here.

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For more garden planting ideas, check out my blog:

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Or check out my Pinterest board for more ideas:

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April 26, 2014