RICHARD & PAUL
  • Home
  • Sunday Chat
  • A Week at the Plot
  • News, Recipes & Blog
    • Podcast
    • Photos >
      • Flowers & Plants
      • Landscapes
      • Travel
      • Growing Spaces
      • Architecture
      • Animals
      • People
      • Food
  • A Guernsey Gardener in 2025
  • Contact
    • Mailing List

News, Recipes & blog

Kick-starting the growing year

26/3/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
The fifth in my series of articles of A Guernsey Gardener in London was published on 26th March 2022 in the Guernsey Press, my homeland newspaper.  This month I am talking of how I plant and grow our early potatoes, and the memories that I have of growing potatoes in Guernsey with my dad in his garden and my uncle in a huge field beside his house.  The first two paragraphs of the article are copied below, and to read the full article for free click on the link under the paragraphs.  Enjoy!!  👍​
"For me, March is the month that really kick-starts my growing year. While we already have garlic, onions, broad beans and overwintering brassicas in the ground and growing well, this month is the one where our planting of seed potatoes begins, and if the weather is warm enough carrot and parsnip seed packets will be to hand, waiting for just the right sunny day.

Throughout most years of dad growing at Martyndale in St Peter’s and Le Pignon in Castel, he earnestly followed the traditional way of planting and growing potatoes. When seed potatoes arrived, usually around early to mid-February, dad would place them in used tomato trays in the greenhouse, nestled in newspaper so they didn’t touch each other; at Martyndale they were placed by the window in the garage as this was sheltered though got good sun. Tucked in their trays they’d get the light they needed, though not the cold they didn’t. Slowly, over the next six weeks or so, chits would form… dark and green and strong."

To read the full article for free click the link below:

https://guernseypress.com/news/features/2022/03/28/kick-starting-the-growing-year/​
0 Comments

A storm's gift

28/2/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
The fourth in my series of articles of A Guernsey Gardener in London was published on 26th February 2022 in the Guernsey Press, my homeland newspaper.  The article looks at soil fertility, and how seaweed throughout the years has been a staple soil additive, especially in Guernsey.  The first two paragraphs of the article are copied below, and to read the full article for free click on the link under the paragraphs.  Enjoy!!  👍
"With all seeds now sorted and stored for this year’s sowings, February is a good time to turn my mind to one of the most important yet often overlooked elements of gardening and growing – the soil!  There’s little point in nurturing seeds to seedlings and then on to healthy plants to then transplant into soil which is ill-equipped for the growing on and blooming or harvesting of the bounty.  Soil needs to be healthy and rich in goodness, whether that comes from our own homemade compost, from bought in bags of peat-free growing medium or from well-rotted cow or horse manure it doesn’t really matter, as it’s all good food and structure for our soil.

One lesser-known soil additive (certainly where I am in London!) is one that gives a broad spectrum of micro-nutrients as well as the big macro-nutrients of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.  Additionally, this soil additive has important carbohydrates which together with the other nutrients it releases are essential building blocks in the plants we grow.  This lesser-known soil additive – seaweed!"

To read the full article for free click the link below:

​​https://guernseypress.com/news/features/2022/02/28/a-storms-gift/
0 Comments

Summer’s sun, seeds and sowing of plans

31/1/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
My third in the series of articles of A Guernsey Gardener in London was published on 31st January 2022 in the Guernsey Press, my homeland newspaper.  The article looks at how January is the perfect month to sow plans for this year's growing season, and sort our seds of what you want to grow.  The first two paragraphs of the article are copied below, and to read the full article for free click on the link under the paragraphs.  Enjoy!!  👍
"JANUARY is always a quiet time at the plot, as it was always at our home gardens in Guernsey… summer’s sun is a distant memory and now warming cups of tea, a slice of cake and a roaring fire are a very welcome treat.

Outside, the weather is damp and cold, the soil the same – and sometimes frozen in London. Growth rates across the board are negligible, though there were and are always a few shards of bright green growth erupting from some Bunyard’s Exhibition broad bean plants or early sown Meteor peas. At the allotment just now, the broad beans are struggling against critters trying to munch them – signs, I fear, of the climate crisis and recent milder winters. This year’s shards of life that dazzle lime-green in bright winter sun are coming from our three types of garlic – Thermidrome, Messidor and Primor, together sounding like a trio of Mexican bandits."

To read the full article for free click the link below:

https://guernseypress.com/news/features/2022/01/31/summers-sun-seeds-and-sowing-of-plans/
0 Comments

All I want for Christmas...

20/12/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
​The second in my series of articles of A Guernsey Gardener in London was published on 20th December 2021 in the Guernsey Press, my homeland newspaper.  The article looks at our Christmas harvests, and how a typical day used to be when I was growing up at Le Pignon in Castel, Guernsey.  The first two paragraphs of the article are copied below, and to read the full article for free click on the link under the paragraphs.  Enjoy!!  👍
"‘CHRISTMAS time, mistletoe and wine’, so suggests an old client’s most catchy and ‘memorable’ Christmas song, though for us gardeners and growers it’s less about mistletoe and wine and more about Brussels sprouts, parsnips, new potatoes, carrots, cabbage and any other vegetable we can bring into the kitchen, straight from being harvested, for cooking for our Christmas lunch.

I guess of all days of the year Christmas Day is the day us green-fingered lot want to harvest fresh vegetables straight from a garden or allotment. A day for celebrating the bounty of the work that has gone on throughout the year to ensure the crisp freshness and homegrown tastes to share with family and friends that grace our table. For some, Christmas Day is a day of celebrating a birth two millennia ago, for others it’s a time to gather and share gifts and happy times, and for a few it’s simply a day off from the everyday drudgery of life – for most it’s likely a mixture of these and a fulsome meal around a crowded table strewn with disarmed crackers, printed novelty jokes and a microscopic plastic magnifying glass."

To read the full article for free click the link below:

https://guernseypress.com/news/features/2021/12/20/all-i-want-for-christmas/​
0 Comments

Where it all began...

12/11/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Yesterday, the first in a new series of articles of A Guernsey Gardener in London was published in the Guernsey Press, my homeland newspaper.  The article takes it all back to where it began for me - as a young child in a lane in Rue du Lorier, St Pierre du Bois, Guernsey.  The first two paragraphs of the article are copied below, and to read the full article for free click on the link under the paragraphs.  Enjoy!!  👍
"MARTYNDALE, Rue du Lorier, St Peter’s… that’s where the seed of A Guernsey Gardener in London was set, though it was not for another four decades and more that the seed would be sown.

Looking back, those days of the late ’60s and early ’70s were pretty idyllic for me… a huge garden with flower borders, loads of lawn to play on and a good area of ground set aside for the growing of fruit and veg. We were surrounded by fields, flower-splashed meadows and family, friends and a host of aunts and uncles who were named such simply for being part of our lives than being a blood relation; the occasional cow found in the garden that would be led around the side of the house, up the road, and along Route des Paysans and back into its field; secretly scrumping in a nearby orchard (when in fact the owner always knew full well); the spring-picking of violets and primroses that would be sent off by dad to Covent Garden (note – not something to do these days); the whole street pasting asters of all colours of the rainbow onto a float for entry to the Battle of Flowers… and that heavy heady smell of the glue; walking to St Peter’s School and all the playground fun, and swimming certificates for a width, a length, two lengths and more; and the utter joy of a walk down to L’Eree and a day on the beach… a beach which to this day is one of my favourite places in the world to sit, chat, laugh and reminisce with a swiftly melting soft ice cream cone and crumbly chocolate flake in hand."

To read the full article for free click the link below:

https://guernseypress.com/news/features/2021/11/12/where-it-all-began
0 Comments
    Picture

    We are...

    ...long term partners.
    We comment on our lives, and all the ups and downs that go with it.  We cover a wide variety of subjects, including allotment growing, recipes, comedy, vlogs and whatever else takes our fancy.
    Our aim is to provide good entertainment and some helpful knowledge.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    May 2021
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    March 2018

    Categories

    All
    A Guernsey Gardener In London
    Ailsa Craig
    Air Pollution
    Allotment
    Allotmenteers
    Allotment Life
    Aubergine
    Autumn
    Baking
    Berries
    Bhaji
    Bread
    Bricks
    Broad Bean
    Building
    Butternut
    Cabbage
    Calendula
    Cardboard
    Car Hire
    Carrot
    Cheese
    Chickpeas
    Christmas
    Christmas Pudding
    Community
    Community Gardens
    Compost
    Construction
    Cookery
    CSR
    Curry
    Emotion
    Family
    Flowers
    Food
    Food Waste
    Fortune
    Gardening
    Garlic
    Grand Uniin Canal
    Grand Union Canal
    Greek
    Green Tomatoes
    Growing
    Guernsey
    Guernsey Press
    Health
    Health And Welbeing
    Health & Wellbeing
    Home Cooking
    Horse Manure
    Insomnia
    Landscapes
    Lettuce
    Life
    Luck
    Luxury
    Memories
    Mental Health
    Moment Of Joy
    Mustrad
    No Dig
    Noise Pollution
    Onion
    Onions
    Parsnips
    Pasta
    Portuguese Cabbage
    Potatoes
    Pumpkin
    Pumpkin Seeds
    Recipe
    Robin
    Runner Beans
    Scent
    Seed Saving
    Seed Storage
    Senses
    Sharing
    Shed
    Sowing
    Spaghetti Squash
    Squash
    Strawberries
    Threshing
    Travel
    Trees
    Urban Greening
    Vegan
    Vegetarian
    Wales
    Wellbeing
    Winnowing
    Winter
    Winter Harvest
    Winter Preparation
    Winter Sowing
    Winter-storage

Picture
YouTube
Picture
Planet Vegetaria Group
Picture
Facebook
Picture
Instagram
Picture
Email
Picture
Podcast
Picture
Richard & Paul
  • Home
  • Sunday Chat
  • A Week at the Plot
  • News, Recipes & Blog
    • Podcast
    • Photos >
      • Flowers & Plants
      • Landscapes
      • Travel
      • Growing Spaces
      • Architecture
      • Animals
      • People
      • Food
  • A Guernsey Gardener in 2025
  • Contact
    • Mailing List