mulch

No-Dig Gardening

November is an important month in the no-dig gardening calendar, particularly in Brittany, where the weeds keep growing right throught the Winter. The secret of no-dig gardening is to not let weeds get a hold in the vegetable beds; this is achieved by not having earth exposed to the light for any period of time. [...]

November – Mulch

November is usually the first really Autumnal month of the year in Brittany. The weather starts to get cold at night, and the leaves fall off the trees. However, conditions can still be quite pleasant in the garden, particularly in the afternoons, and it is a good time of year to spend some time tidying [...]

Soil fertility – Mulch

Apart from all the tidying up of the summer crops, which is now overdue, my main task over the next few weeks will be to go round the whole of my property cutting as much of the grass, and as many of the banks as I possibly can. This is obviously good in so far [...]

Jobs in February – Preparing the Ground

February is the month where you have a chance to catch up with jobs that you should, perhaps, have done earlier in the winter, and which you must do before the plants start to grow in the spring. Broadly, these jobs fall into two categories: cutting & pruning, and preparing the ground for next year’s [...]

Gardening Jobs in February

Although February is not a month that one traditionally associates with gardening, there is still plenty to be done. You might not notice it, but by now the established weeds – such as dock and grasses – will be starting to grow quite rapidly. If you can find time to  hoe the whole vegetable patch, [...]

Mulch

Covering the vegetable garden with mulch over the Winter may seem like a lot of work, but it has many advantages: it inhibits weed growth, it nourishes the soil, and it protects the soil surface from the worst severities of the weather, which encourages worms and insect life to flourish.
Winter is the time of year [...]