Turn 1kg of potatoes into 20kgs without divine intervention! Growing potatoes isn't difficult no matter where you live. It's just a matter of timing, a little digging, some potato food, and then a few short months of growing for you to produce the best tasting taters you'll ever eat. Just a few articles back I
Introduction In our tomato variety reviews we rate and review each variety based on the following criteria: Size of Fruit vs Productivity Taste & Meatiness (texture) Disease and Pest Resistance Growth X-Factor So, without fear, let's get started! Characteristics # 1 in our tomato series is the Black Russian. This odd coloured tomato might be “different”
There are many subtle variants of the Yellow Beefsteak (some with quite different attributes) but this particular variety could be slightly different (or not) from what others grow with the same name. As with all the tomato reviews on SSM, the article will summarise by giving the tomato variety a final rating score by averaging the rating
Introduction (This article was reviewed in July 2012) Tiller the Season to be Growing Trul-a-lul-a-la blah blah blah blah… I know the title is drawing a long bow for a Christmas theme but I've never been a very orthodox person and I guess if you have been following my articles over the past 6 months you'll
*This article was revised in Dec 2012, and contains sponsored links. Lettuce is one of those common salad vegetables, which most of us take for granted as one of those regular foods in our diet we just always have and don't need to think about much. But, we should think about lettuce more because what
I'm always on the lookout for new fruit trees to plant in my garden. Many people don't realise how many thousands of different varieties of fruit there really are in the world besides the standard ones committed to the larger displays in the big supermarkets. However, if you check the back shelves in the supermarket
A warning first about this particular tomato plant – grow it as a supplementary tomato not as the main staple as results can be mixed from season to season with this cheeky giant. Some seasons it grows perfectly and others it really struggles without any obvious reasons why… I suspect it's a little fickle when it
It's about time I wrote something on landscaping as it is the base of all gardens for crying out loud. And, without a good landscaping plan (even if it means just using the natural landscape itself) all the best intentions won't enable a garden to reach its full potential – no matter how hard we
Gardeners already know the secret soothing effects gardening has on the mind because it's what keeps them/us out there pottering around. Are we born gardeners? I think there's a gardener in most people and there would probably be more people in the garden if they had the time but unfortunately spare time is somewhat scarce
For a backyard fruit tree it's hard to overlook an orange. Not only is an orange tree easy to grow and great for fruit but it also can be used as an evergreen ornamental show piece in the garden. You can get mock orange trees as ornamentals (they don't fruit) but why not get the
Most of us know how much fun (and useful) gardening can be, especially things like: raising or planting-out seedlings and facilitating the beginnings of life, harvesting those crisp vegetable and fruit crops fresh from the backyard, selecting those fragrant herbs, or pruning and admiring those ornamentals strategically positioned around our home. However, gardening isn't all
Introduction Freshly harvested ginger from the garden is amazing! Even just removing the rhizome from the soil fills the nostrils with such beautiful fragrance it's almost impossible not to hold the ginger root close to the face for several seconds to appreciate this gift from nature. So often, it's the scent of food which subconsciously
Introduction Article updated 30 Sep 2019 Provide a spot or box with some straw and your hens will happily lay eggs it's that simple, jobs done – sad to say it isn't quite that simple. After much trial and error, open-eyed surprises, shaking head disappointments, wasted money, wasted eggs, and lost time, I have evolved
Introduction Cauliflower belongs to the brassica (botanical) family, which happens to be the largest vegetable family in the world and includes other vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, and even bok choy. I sometimes think about the origins of vegetables (I'm a Pisces) and wonder who was the first person to find and try this vegetable? I'm
Now, I know I have already covered another yellow variety (yellow beefsteak) but this variety though the same colour is quite different. A few years ago, my brother (Phil) and I were taking a stroll around my garden and we came across my tomato patch; in this patch, I happened to be growing several varieties
Article updated on 13th Jan 2016 Dragon fruit or called by its proper name Pitaya is one of the lessor known fruiting plants in the Western world (perhaps the whole world). The name “dragon fruit” has its origins in Asia and probably was formed as a way to describe the bright coloured fruit with a chunky scaled
Fruit trees are arguably the best and most important plants people can grow in their garden. These trees provide us with good healthy food, fantastic scenery, habitat for animals, and an excellent excuse to wander out through the orchard (or garden). Most fruit trees have similar sighting considerations, and whilst there are some exceptions, trees
Introduction “As easy as shelling peas,” as the saying goes, but is actually growing peas really that easy? The short answer is no, and the reason I think this, is because to grow peas successfully some prior preparation, mid-growth maintenance, and good timing is required. To grow the best peas and plenty of them there
September means spring in my part of the world and at spring time no matter where in the world you are one of the best plants to grow is the strawberry. As we all know, strawberries are a divine and decadent fruit but they can be pricey to buy from the markets so I grow
More cynical is one way to describe how view the world these days. For me, it’s a trait which has developed from life experience and knowledge gained along the way because I believe most people become a little more cynical as they get older. When I first joined the Army at just 18, I was
Self Sufficient Me is a blog about self-sustainment by growing our own produce (plant/animal), and self-fulfilment by looking after our health (physical/mental) through exercise and slowing life down a little.
