Creative Harvest Gardeners share a spade-full of top tips for creating a flourishing edible garden.
Six sustainable vegetable garden practices from our gardeners
Don't dig. 'No dig' gardening 'doesn't disturb all those underground critters busy creating healthy soil'. It's also gentler on dodgy knees and creaky backs, especially if you practise 'no dig' gardening in raised beds. Consider filling those beds with layers of fireplace ashes, newspaper, compost, soil, and sheep manure. Want more on the difference 'no dig' gardening can make? Here you go Curious about the brains behind no dig 'gardening? Meet Charles
Get vertical. Creative Harvest gardens come in all shapes and sizes. Some Creative Harvesters are gardening vertically to give them more room and reap the aesthetic and edible rewards of arches and green walls. Want to grow your garden space? 3 Awesome ways to grow vertically in your garden
Make use of tubs and troughs. Old laundry troughs make for cosier winter growing conditions. Invite worms to move in next to your fruit trees by sinking tubs and filling them with kitchen scraps. Want worms everywhere? Transform a tub or two into a working worm farm
Mulching works wonders. Control weeds, enrich your soil, and help keep it moist. While sugar cane mulch is a firm favourite, our gardeners make mulch from composted kitchen scraps, weeds, garden prunings, sheep crutchings, and old hay. A shout out to Creative Harvest sponsors Trafalgar Garden & Hire, who are supplying our gardeners with a trailer load of mulch or veggie mix.
Short and sweet on soil sprouts 'It's a good idea to get your brussels sprouts in early.' Brussels Sprouts have that winter comfort dish 'roasted with bacon' vibe. But you need to sow this slow-growing veg in protective conditions in early summer. Transplant your 'brussels' to the garden in the warmth of late January or early February to ensure strong growth for a bumper winter harvest. Bone up on brussels sprouts
'Love your soil, don't treat it like dirt.' The expert sustainable gardening and permaculture people at PIP Magazine are a super source of soil-enhancing info. They're also spreading the word on Creative Harvest. 10 Top articles on taking care of your soil
Fun finale
We asked our 2024 gardeners to name the veggie versions of themselves.
We have three tomatoes, two kale plants, an avocado, a marrow, a climbing bean, an ear of sweet corn and a fruit tree.
Curious about matching the veggie avatars to their respective owners?
