Emma Flood raves about the underrated, but reliable damson which doesn’t seem actively sought after but still has a passionate following from those who love the fruit. Why are damsons the forgotten fruit?  What fruit tree, asked a friend recently, would I recommend that wasn’t too big, looked good, didn’t demand a lot of work but produced a large, reliable …

There’s still time – just, to get another crop in the ground to enjoy. Potatoes are the most generous of all crops and will pay you back many times over. In fact, there is still time to plant them with the seed potatoes able to catch up during the summer and provide a wonderful late harvest.  If those harvests do …

Late autumn planting is the secret to get the best of a garlic crop which will have a head start when the weather warms up in spring. Autumn-to-spring is the best season for growing garlic.  Garlic cloves planted in the autumn quickly develop roots, so the plants are established when cold weather stops their growth. Then they start growing again …

The walnut tree is both a beautiful and practical tree for gardens and if you are patient will provide a rich harvest of delicious nuts The traditional English walnut tree, which is native to central Asia, is a beautiful and useful tree for its aesthetics and food-growing abilities alike.  It is a great tree to grow if you have the …

Dorset gardener David Leese has a passion for growing autumn raspberries, easier to grow, welcoming cooler weather and harvesting from late summer through to the first frosts of winter. I love growing, harvesting and eating autumn raspberries. They are a much better option I believe to their summer cousins and so rewarding to grow. I favour autumn-fruiting raspberries over summer …

Our October issue feature on local apple varieties has sparked off a huge response from readers who have their own stories of how apple varieties were discovered. Retired horticulturist Geoffrey Rowson was driving down the M5 when he spotted some spectacular looking apples hanging from a small tree on the public side of the motorway fence. It was an easy …

Elizabeth McCorquodale looks at some different and appealing flavours to come in from the garden to spice up your food. When we think of growing spicy plants in this country the first thing that comes to mind are windowsill chillies or the fleeting heat of summer radishes. However there are many more species on offer than you might think, and …

Too many gardeners are not brutal enough and waste their final crop by letting greenery take over, and forgetting to care for the crop in the vital few weeks before harvest. Growing tomatoes can be a tricky business.  We have no idea if we’ll have a sweltering summer like last year or if rain will come and encourage blight.  Or …

Apples naturally shed some fruitlets in early summer, and this process is known as the ‘June drop’. This may look alarming but is not usually a cause for concern and is often not as bad as it looks After watching your fruit trees flower out spectacularly in the spring and then seeing the tiny fruits beginning to form, it is …

by Kate Lewis In late spring rhubarb gradually moves from the forced season to the outdoor season, and with the lack of other local seasonal produce it is worth exploring different ways to use this versatile and colourful vegetable. Although best known for its use in sweet crumbles and fools, rhubarb is actually a vegetable, and works as well in …