Maximising yields

How to create a living soil – and dramatically increase the productivity of your growing

May 31, 2012
Thumbnail image for How to create a living soil – and dramatically increase the productivity of your growing

Soil life: the best kept secret to successful container growing?     If you want to grow food successfully in containers, nurturing soil life can make a huge difference. Worm compost, for example, is full of microbes and life. Add it to your containers and you will get more vigorous growth, and far fewer pest [...]

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Maximising Space 3: Fast Growing Crops

April 10, 2012

Fast growing crops are invaluable in lots of ways. If you’re growing for the first time a quick success is rewarding and boosts confidence. If you only have a short time window to grow in –  you might be a student in temporary accommodation, growing in a school, or going away on holiday – you [...]

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Graph of month by month harvests

March 2, 2012

If you’re growing food in a small space, you may be wondering how much you can harvest at different times of year. Below I’ve drawn a graph showing the weight of the harvest for each month, from my London balcony and window sills. It starts in May 2010 (when I started weighing)  and ends in November [...]

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The plan of what I grew on my London balcony

September 30, 2011
flowers

A few readers have requested a plan of my balcony and window sills – so here it is! Click on the link below and it should open a word document with a plan drawing of the balcony and what is growing. Balcony Plan 2011

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How much can you grow on a balcony?

August 31, 2011

Over the summer I found time to analyse last year’s harvests from my small balcony and window sills (more details in 2010 growing diary). Below is a table that shows you the weight of each of the main crops. The table also shows you what this equates to in terms of typical supermarket packs. As [...]

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Maximising space 2: multiple harvests from one pot

May 9, 2011

Here’s a piece I wrote for The City Planter. There are many rewards to be had from growing food in containers, but getting a worthwhile harvest from a small space can be a challenge. My first attempt at balcony growing resulted in one solitary serving of rocket. Fortunately, it’s possible to get a year-round supply [...]

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Maximising space no. 1: grow climbers

February 15, 2011

How to get higher yields from less space: the first post in a new mini series Whilst planning your 2011 container garden you are probably thinking about how to get the most out of your space. One way of doing this is to grow climbing varieties. This is because you’ll get a bigger plant in [...]

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Evidence that self-watering containers are GREAT

February 4, 2011

While planning the new growing season, I think back to learning from last year, and what might be useful to you if you are growing in containers. My most successful experiment in 2010 was the self-watering containers. The marrow below was grown in one and is included here as (unscientific) evidence in their favour – [...]

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In love with worms

June 15, 2010

If you’re growing in containers, you’ll know that one of the biggest challenges is to keep your soil fertile enough to grow vegetables, which are mostly hungry beasts. As the nutrients in most commercial composts are exhausted after six weeks or so, it’s vital to regularly add nutrients. The number of different ways to add [...]

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Veggies for a small space

June 1, 2010

One way to improve yields from your small space is to chose carefully what you grow. Key points to consider when trying to maximise your yield include: How much of the plant can you eat? Crops like potatoes and courgettes produce lots of inedible leaves, taking up space and energy in your small plot.  Salads [...]

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Maximising growing space

May 25, 2010

If you want to grow food but don’t have a garden or an allotment, then lack of space is probably one of your biggest challenges. But it’s amazing what you can do with even a small outdoor space. Indeed,  lack of space can be a great inspiration to get creative. Finding different ways to make [...]

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