Our Weekend Project – Chicken Coop Building

Over the past few weekends, my husband has been putting together our chicken coop and making a run for my dad’s three hens. As you may have read, I lost my dad 3 months ago and he had a small holding. All of my dad’s life he kept animals. The cattle went at the start of last week and now the last animals to go were the chickens that my mum asked me to have.

Our Weekend Project - Chicken Coop Building

I used to keep my own chickens as a child so she knew I would be very touched to have dads hens. Keeping hens in the garden is pretty easy. I’d rather have them than a cat or dog. They make excellent pets plus give you fresh eggs everyday. Since Sunday when I picked them up we have had two eggs each day.

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Beat Summer Holiday Boredom By Getting In The Garden

The six weeks or so that the children have for summer holidays from school can seem an awfully long time to a child. They get bored very easily, but just for a moment consider how it is for children in some other countries. For instance, in Spain, the holiday lasts 12 weeks, and in Australia, it is 10 weeks. These other places tend to spend more time outside with their children, often just doing things in their own back gardens.

Beat Summer Holiday Boredom By Getting In The Garden

Kids Love Water

Whether you have a paddling pool or a water balloon fight, the kids will love it. They get great pleasure from playing in water, and it is a good way to keep them cool when the sun is blazing down. As long as tiny children are watched carefully, water in the back garden can provide many hours of fun.

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The Grofresh Kitchen Garden Review

As you know I love to potter in the garden. Growing flowers, fruit and veg, but I’ve never tried growing anything in the kitchen. There are flowers and cacti on my window sills but have never thought about actually growing food inside.

The Grofresh Kitchen Garden lets you do just that. Grow your own food in the kitchen. By the way there is no soil or mess involved! It’s a really clean way to grow your own. May that be from seed or plant plugs.

We were sent a Grofresh Kitchen Garden to try out and to share our thoughts on it. Before I tell you about how we set ours up, here is a little about the Grofresh.

grofresh kitchen garden

The Grofresh kitchen garden is fully automated, so you don’t have to worry about over-watering, under-watering, overfeeding or underfeeding. It will keep the growing environment at its optimum without the need for constant attention so if you have a busy life then you can still grow your own plants. All you must do is keep the system topped up with water, and it even tells you when to do that with a little light system.

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Overhaul Your Garden This Summer

Now that summer is in full swing, most of us are enjoying our time outside the house and exploring our gardens. If you have only just come out into your garden this year to start some work on it, you may already be faced with a 3-foot night lawn, flowers everywhere and a ton of weeds. There comes a time in all of our lives where we want to make a change to the garden, so if you want to vamp up the space this year and make a fun change, here are some of the things you can do.

Overhaul your garden this Summer

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What tech products do you need to start using in your garden?

There are lots of new and innovative devices coming out all the time for the avid gardener — but which would benefit you the most?

To find out which new tech product you need, check out this tech guide by Suttons — leading providers of hanging baskets — as we look at the top must-have pieces of technology for gardeners in 2018…   

The best gardening apps

You probably already know how many apps there are available in 2018 — but do you know which are best for gardeners?

gardening app for avid gardeners

  • GrowIt! — connects you with local gardeners. You can also upload photos of your own plants to share your gardening knowledge with others.
  • Garden Compass — allows you to upload photos, ask questions to horticultural experts and create a personalised garden-care calendar.

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Unexpected Exotic Fruits You Can Grow in a UK Garden

It is becoming all the more popular for people to use their garden space to grow their own crops. Not only is this fun, as well as satisfying, but it also means that you get the added bonus of being able to eat the things that you have grown. Ideal for new gardeners and families alike.

The only trouble with this is that sometimes it can feel that the crops that you have cultivated are a little on the obvious side. Whilst there is nothing wrong with growing tomatoes, sometimes you long for something a little more, well exotic.

Of course, you are going to think that here in the UK it is impossible to grow anything that is remotely exotic. However, this really isn’t true. In fact, there are plenty of unexpected exotic fruits that you can grow in a UK garden.

But what are they? Let’s take a look at the options that are open to you and why they should become a feature in your garden.

Pineapple Guava

The great thing about these plants is that not only can you eat the amazing egg sized fruits when they grow, but during the growing process you can also eat the flowers too. The flowers produced not only smell gorgeous, but are also a stunning crimson colour too, which looks great. The fruit, when it has grown tastes amazing, some say that it is just like pineapple, peach, strawberry, apple and plum all rolled into one.

Unexpected Exotic Fruits You Can Grow In A UK GardenThe fruits of this plant will only ripen ready to eat during the summer months, however, the plant itself can withstand cold temperatures and still survive.

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