Category Archives: food & kitchen gardening

Gardening’s Last Stand

Allotments are a vital, living part of our gardening heritage – and when they are threatened, it’s time to draw a line. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, 28th January 2013 I’m an emotional kind of gardener. … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, environment, ethics, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, good life, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, politics, published articles, resilience | Leave a comment

The Eco Warrior Within

“You may consider yourself just a smallholder, but are you really a ‘quiet but potent eco-warrior’? It’s possible. John Walker, author of How to Create an Eco Garden: The Practical Guide to Greener, Planet-friendly Gardening, sees smallholders as occupying a … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, blog, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, environment, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, good life, green gardening, nature & the natural world, organic gardening | Leave a comment

Crowd Cultivation

What do you get when you cross crowd funding with plant breeding? At the Sárvári Research Trust, it’s the chance for ordinary gardeners to have a stake in the future. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, 20th … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, blight-resistant 'sárpo' potatoes, carbon emissions, carbon footprint, climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, energy use, environment, ethics, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, fossil fuels, gardening footprint, genetically modified (GM) crops, green gardening, media, organic gardening, published articles, renewable gardening | 1 Comment

Grow Organic With Manchester’s Bud Garden Centre

One of the most engaging ‘twitterships’ that I’ve struck up in the flourishing world of gardening social media is my occasional exchanges with Brenda Smith, co-founder of Bud Garden Centre, in Burnage, Manchester (@BudGardenCentre). We share plenty in common, both … Continue reading

Posted in blog, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, environment, ethics, food & kitchen gardening, garden centres & gardening industry, garden compost & composting, green gardening, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, peat & peat-free compost | Leave a comment

Resistance is Fertile: How Gardeners Can Help Wave Goodbye to Potato Blight

This summer’s record outbreak of late blight in potatoes has helped shine a light on a quiet but powerful revolution in potato breeding, which aims to banish the disease from our gardens. This is a resistance movement which all gardeners … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, blight-resistant 'sárpo' potatoes, carbon footprint, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, ecological sustainability, energy use, environment, ethics, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, good life, green gardening, organic gardening, pesticides in the garden, published articles, resilience | 1 Comment

The Fight Against Blight

I report from the potato blight front-line, and ask whether the remarkable ‘Sárpo’ varieties might soon be the only spuds worth growing. By John Walker. Published in Organic Gardening, December 2007. Is there a rather unpleasant whiff coming from your … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, blight-resistant 'sárpo' potatoes, carbon emissions, carbon footprint, environment, food & kitchen gardening, green gardening, organic gardening, published articles | 3 Comments

Who Needs Peat?

Peat-free composts can grow plants just as well as peat-based, but with an added feel-good factor. In this 4-page article republished courtesy of Grow It! magazine (September 2012), I give tips and advice gleaned from my 2012 garden trial of … Continue reading

Posted in carbon emissions, climate change & global warming, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, ecological sustainability, environment, ethics, food & kitchen gardening, garden compost & composting, green gardening, nature & the natural world, organic gardening, peat & peat-free compost, published articles | Leave a comment

Find Out About Garden Food Growing With Frodsham Transition Initiative on Saturday 8th September 2012

On Saturday 8th September 2012, I’ll be offering advice and ideas on how to grow more food in your garden as part of Frodsham Transition Initiative’s free ‘drop-in’ event which is being held at Frodsham Community Centre, from 1-5pm. This … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, blog, climate- & earth-friendly gardening, eco gardening, ecological sustainability, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, transition | Leave a comment

Keep Calm and… Put Up a Greenhouse

It’s time to take cover: after another grey, sodden summer, the future for serious garden food growers looks a lot brighter under glass or plastic. By John Walker. Published on the Hartley Botanic website, 26th July 2012 Pale, drawn and … Continue reading

Posted in climate- & earth-friendly gardening, ecological sustainability, energy use, environment, ethics, food & kitchen gardening, food miles, garden compost & composting, organic gardening, peat & peat-free compost, published articles, rainwater harvesting, renewable gardening, vegan-organic gardening | 1 Comment

Friday 3rd August 2012: All Welcome at Sarvari Research Trust Open Day – Breeders of The Blight-Resistant Sárpo Potatoes

*September 2012: support the blight-resistant Sárpo ‘wonderspuds’* This year is proving to be ideal for the spread of ‘late blight’ (Phytophthora infestans) on both potatoes and tomatoes. Come and hear how the Sarvari Research Trust is collaborating with Bangor University … Continue reading

Posted in allotments, blight-resistant 'sárpo' potatoes, blog, carbon footprint, food & kitchen gardening, renewable gardening | Leave a comment