FOOD GROWING RESOURCES HUB

This week we celebrate the “Pesticide Action Week” and we‘d love to engage as many people as we can to promote the use of natural remedies and alternative methods to pesticides.  Pesticides are used as pest and disease control in agriculture, but they can be harmful for humans, animals and the environment. Our aim is to raise awareness of the potential risks of using pesticides in our green space as well as showing you healthier alternatives.  It’s definitely worth investigating natural ways of growing and gardening.   PHYSICAL BARRIERS Sometimes the most efficient methods for doing a job are also the simplest!  Do ...

Dear friend and grower, Having worked with plants (and people) for some time now, I can feel your excitement for the end of this rainy and sometimes snowy January and your desire to start a new growing year.  Everybody is dreaming of a vibrant Spring to come, where we can enjoy our green space filled with blooms and vegetables. Even for beginners the desire to get going is strong. You might have spotted some new flowers in a field and thought: That’s it! Spring is here, it’s time to sow seeds and start off new plants.  But...before you get going, there are ...

So Autumn is definitely here -  with cooler temperatures, some rain (finally), and shorter days. From a gardener’s point of view, autumn is the most rewarding month - it’s when we get to enjoy our harvest, a great reward for the months of hard work. I hope that our “Keep Growing” campaign has helped to foster a new passion for gardening, learning new skills and given you some delicious produce to enjoy.. Your home grown vegetables are an amazing resource and not just in terms of being able to enjoy fresh, organic food. It’s a starting point to really engage in ...

WHY ARE BEES IMPORTANT? Bees are our main pollinators, pollinating a third of the food we eat and 80% of flowering plants. Pollination is crucial because many of our vegetables, fruits and the crops that feed our livestock rely on it to be fertilised, so without it, we could go hungry.   Bees pollinate a third of the food we eat and 80% of flowering plants and they produce honey!  WHICH PLANTS CAN I GROW TO HELP BEES? If you are going to plan a “bee friendly” garden you should consider growing: Plants that bloom in WINTER or EARLY SPRING SINGLE PETAL FLOWERS offering a large platform ...

Food Growing Tips - find out how the Square Foot Garden Method can maximise your planting space. This simple method is great for containers and pots too. FOLLOW CLYO'S FOOD GROWING TIPS Square foot gardening is a great gardening method for beginners and people with limited room for growing. It was invented by the gardener, American author and TV presenter Mel Bartholomew in the 1970’s.   How to use the square foot gardening method It's really only a question of dividing your bed or container in to a grid of 1 foot squares (or in today's terms 30cm squares).  The diagram on the right ...

Food Growing Tips - Read and watch our video on how to protect your plants and seedlings with our tips on natural pest control. June is a busy time for gardeners and growers. There are seedlings ready to be planted out, plants that need to be watered and outdoor spaces to be tidied. Not to mention the problem of slugs, snails and aphids as well as other animals. During the last “Grower’s Question Time” many of you told me that you had problems with cats and squirrels. “How can we protect our plants from cats and squirrels digging everything up?”   By definition ...