I wanted to share with you the striking and vibrant colour palette that is Bright Lights Swiss Chard.

• Swiss Chard Colour Palette

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  Seedlings of many colours

• Swiss Chard Colour Palette

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  Sunshine Yellow Chard

• Swiss Chard Colour Palette

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  Ruby Red Chard

• Swiss Chard Colour Palette

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  Dusky Pink Chard

• Swiss Chard Colour Palette

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  Striking Red Alert Chard

• Swiss Chard Colour Palette

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  Bright Yellow Chard

• Swiss Chard Colour Palette

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  Red Tiny Chard Seedling

If you haven’t tried growing Swiss Chard before, its definitely worth ago. They like being grown alongside similar leafy vegetables like Spinach, Leaf Beet and due to their colours give a striking colour palette when grown with Beetroot.

Sow Chard

Sow Swiss Chard between April and May to harvest June to August. They are a good stable leaf vegetable which take approximately 12 weeks to grow. Pick off baby leaves as they come or wait until the larger leaves form with characteristic coloured or white stems. Cook like you would with Pak Choi, put the chopped stems in a stir fry pan first and then the leaves only need a few minutes or they can be steamed.

Swiss Chard are a great container vegetable and can be sown in almost any size planter. Take a look at our Burgon & Ball Willow Planter with planting bag and 5 seed envelopes to help you start growing your own vegetables at home.

Red Tiny Chard Seedling

How to Grow Chard & Other Veg Guides:-

• Growing Chard
• Growing Beetroot
• Growing Pak Choi
• Growing Spinach
• Growing Spring Vegetables
• Vibrant Leafy Veg to Add Colour to Your Beds

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There’s plenty of expectations that this years show will be even better with a wealth of expertise like Pippa Greenwood, a well known garden expert and writer and James Wong (fresh from his recent appearance on Sports Relief Bake Off), is also know for his unusal approach to herbal medicine in his BBC show ‘Grow Your Own Drugs’. Their appearances along with the resident vegetable growing expert at the show ‘Paul Peacock’ will be on hand to offer advice on growing issues and tips for all different ranges of growing skills.

Bright Lights Chard

The Edible Garden Show is a merge of gardening, smallholding and home produce with exhibitors ranging from bee keeping experts, livestock, keeping chickens, sheds, garden equipment, grow your own, seed suppliers and a huge food area with live demonstrations from resident chef Rachel Green.

I missed last years show, so I can’t wait to visit this year. There’s plenty to see at the Stoneleigh Centre which is a very large indoor and outdoor agricultural centre in Warwickshire. The show runs for 3 days, Friday 16th, Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th March 2012.

Grow Your Own Snail Farm

I’m particularly looking forward to the talks on ‘Exotic Edibles’ by James Wong and I’d like to get to know the suppliers I use for growing like More Veg for Seeds and Agralan for my mesh cloches. I’d also like to check out some of the more unusual exhibitors like Grow Your Own Snail Farm and the latest innovations in vegetable growing equipment.

I’m also hoping there will be a few bargains and I’ve also spotted a couple of cider producers on the exhibitor listing so I can take away a few purchases to remember the day by.

Advanced Tickets are on sale now for a reduced price, so why not add this date to your Grow Your Own Diary and help your vegetable growing year get off to a flying start.

The Edible Garden Show
16th to 18th March 2012

Buy Tickets: Advance Tickets
More Details: www.theediblegardenshow.co.uk
Follow on Twitter: @EdibleGardenSho

Experts at The Edible Garden Show:

• Pippa Greenwood
• James Wong
• Rachel Green
• Paul Peacock

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About Clear Creek Seeds

Clear Creek Seeds

Clear Creek Seeds is an online website selling a variety of different vegetable seeds in the U.S. They are based in Oklahoma and specialise in open pollinated, Non-GMO and Heirloom (over 50 years old) vegetable varieties.

Heirloom Varieties that particularly stand out are Squash Winter Vegetable Spaghetti, Radish Crimson Giant and Tomato Jubilee.

Special of the Week – Tomato Roma

Clear Creek Seeds have a few offers running this year including a free packet of seeds of your choice with every order, weekly specials and next day shipping. This weeks special is ‘Tomato Roma’ which is one of the very first tomato seeds I grew on my vegetable plot and it had great results. Its a good variety to grow to make soup or tomato sauces and can be grown in a greenhouse or outside.

Please see my guide on How To Sow Tomato Seed for more tips.

Contact Details:

Please note Clear Creek Seeds only ship seeds within the U.S.

Shop: Clear Creek Seeds
Twitter: @ClearCreekSeeds

For UK Readers

Tomato Roma seeds can be bought from Seed Parade for a bargain of 89p.

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Wishing you all a very happy new year and all the best for growing your own veg in 2011.

And without further ado I present My Vegetable Awards 2011:

Overall Best Vegetable Harvest in 2011: Mange Tout – Carouby de Maussane
Previous Winner: Radish – Pink Beauty

Best Performance: Kale – Fizz
Previous Winners: Carrots-Nantes 2 and Chantenay (2009) and Savoy Cabbage – Cantasa F1 (2010)

Best Coloured Veg: Climbing Beans – Bridgewater

Best Newcomer: Kohl Rabi
Previous Winners: Onions – Red Cross (2009) and Beetroot – Moneta (2010)

Non-Starter: Winter Cauliflower
Previous Winners: Spring Cabbages (2009) and Perpetual Spinach (2010).

Best Taste: Shallots – Golden Gormet
Previous Winners: Dwarf French Beans – Major (2009) and Lettuce – Flame (2010).

Best Flowers: Mange Tout – Ezeta’s Krombek Blauwschokker
Previous Winners: Mange Tout – Weggisser (2009) and Mange Tout – Golden Sweet (2010).

Strongest Growing Winter Vegetable: Broad Bean
Previous Year: Savoy Cabbage

Best Wildlife: Bumble Bee

Most Annoying Pest: Caterpillars
Previous Years Winner: Aphids

Best Seed Company: MoreVeg.co.uk
Previous Winners: The Organic Garden Catalogue (2009) and The Real Seed Catalogue (2010)

New Vegetables Grown for 2011: Kohl Rabi, Rocket, Purple Sprouting Broccoli.
Previous New Grown Veg: Beetroot, Shallot, Savoy Cabbage (2010)
Previous New Grown Veg: Leeks, Fennel, Onions, Mustard Greens, Salad Endive (2009)

Veg I would grow again: Pak Choi – Rubi, Carrots – Chantenay, Spring Onions – Purplette.

My Favourite Blog Post 2011: Beginner Garlic Growers
Previous fav blog post: Planning Your Veg Garden and Free Resources Page

• iGrowVeg

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  Vegetable Awards 2011

• Veg I would grow again:

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  Spring Onion - Purplette & Paris Silverskin

• Best Wildlife:

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  Bumble Bee

• Best Taste:

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  Shallots Golden Gourmet

• Overall Best Vegetable Harvest:

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  Carouby de Maussane Mange Tout

• Best Seed Supplier:

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  More Veg

• Best Newcomer:

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  Kohl Rabi

• New Vegetables Grown for 2011:

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  Purple Sprouting Broccoli

• Best Coloured Veg:

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  Bridgewater Beans

• Best Performance:

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  Kale Fizz

• Best Flowers:

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  Ezeta’s Krombek Blauwschokker Mange Tout

• Veg I would grow again:

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  Rubi Pak Choi

• Veg I would grow again:

  http://igrowveg.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Screen-Shot-2011-12-31-at-13.16.56.jpg

  Chantenay Carrots

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Broad Bean Plot

Look at them now, admittedly they are trailing a bit along the ground however I find Broad Bean plants quite robust and with the exception of blackened tips of their leaves when frost has struck (I’ve got a few of those), they tend to get through the worst of the winter including last years snow. Thats another reason why I like growing winter vegetables so much as they are strong and happily grow away until springtime.

My peas (douce provence) are small probably because they were interplanted between the rows of broad beans but do not show any signs of frost damage which I was aiming for, and this variety of pea is very reliable for winter growing.

Unexpectedly also growing in my Winter plot is the late re-emergence of Kale Fizz, it’s positively blooming in this mild weather and I’ve also got lots of rocket as well.

Kale 'Frost Hardy' Fizz

Unfortunately if you do take you eye off the vegetable plot, especially to new vegetable seedlings you haven’t sown before, then unexplained disappearances can occur. There are a number of reasons for this, including cold temperatures, pests in the soil, seedlings rotting and disappearing.

My winter seedling disappearances include:

• Winter Cauliflower,
• Turnip,
• Spicy Leaves

Unfortunately it’s just the way nature deals the cards and as I’m not one to give up on things easily, better luck next time!

Other Posts you may be interested in:

• Benefits of Growing Vegetables in Winter
• The Last Veg Seed Sowings of the Year
• From Flowers to First Beans
• Blackfly on Broad Beans

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I love Twitter (Follow me @igrowveg) because its so simple to pick up the ipad/laptop/phone and log onto twitter or echofon (a twitter app) and see what everyone is talking about, share what I’m growing or highlight a recipe or comment on some bad singing on x-factor.

As vegetable growing and gardening are hobbies which are acustomed to communites and chatting, twitter is the best place to find allotmenteers, back garden veg growers, container balcony specialists, garden designers etc. So I’d like to showcase the best of these each month on my blog. So here are my recommendations this month.

Urban DirtTv

UrbanDirtTv

Web: http://urbandirt.tv
Twitter: @UrbanDirtTv

This new YouTube web series on garden design is friendly and captivating and the encouragement and advice provided by host David Walrod makes you want to see the final garden design revealed.

The chosen backyard for the make over is an average size and has some usual issues like privacy, ugly brick walls and concrete steps, pathways needed, no eating area, needs to be low maintenance. Its easy to see how you could use ideas in the web series to makeover your own garden from these problem areas.

Episodes 1 to 5 have been released already covering topics like planning your design, installing a water fountain, wall murals and more, theres something for everyone from power tools, to building structures and planting ideas to garden artwork. Check it out, the big reveal is coming soon!

YouTube:http://youtu.be/T6Bm92QMbBE

Allotmentor

Allotmentor.com

Web: http://www.allotmentor.com
Twitter: @allotmentor

This website is a collaboration between Damion Young and Simon Hayes so welcome to your new virtual allotment neighbour. This site is relatively new but there’s plenty of advice on crops, pests etc and more information soon.

I particularly like the idea of logging in and leaving your own tips and sharing these with other growers and the Associations page to let you know where your local allotments or community gardens are located. If you like the sound of it, why not nip over the garden fence and say hi to the allotment community.

Reader Sheds

Garden Shed

Web: http://www.readersheds.co.uk
Twitter: @readersheds

Apparently all good allotmenteers and gardeners should have one of these… a shed and this site has taken this to the max, showcasing their reader’s sheds and running a yearly competition – get your entries in now for 2012 Shed of the Year.

There’s loads of pictures of shed’s on this site from eco to offices to bog standard garden sheds, so get your fix or just some inspiration.

Lawns for You

Fairy Ring Lawn

Web: http://www.lawnsforyou.com
Twitter: @lawnsforyou

I don’t know about you but my lawn has never been a thing of beauty, slowly over the years the bumps have got bumpier, moss has spread and waterlogged spots are still boggy, so when I stumbled upon this site on twitter I thought all my christmassy’s had come at once with the hope on mending my lawn.

This site has plenty of articles including Winter lawn maintenance and moss control, mole problems, laying a new lawn and top dressing your lawn from the grass and lawn care expert Duncan Gray.

Bugs In The Garden

Bugs in The Garden iPhone App

Web: http://www.bugsinthegarden.com
Twitter: @MyGardenApps

If you have ever seen a bug or insect on your vegetable plants and not known what it is, then this site and app for the iPhone you need! Quickly identify garden bugs by choosing the vegetable you are growing, then click on the bug for a plant damage description and solution on how to remove them from your garden. This really useful and easy to use iPhone app by Justin Davidson is definitely something I’ll be referring to in the new growing year.

For more veg growers and gardeners on Twitter, follow my Lists:

• Veg Grower Twitter List
• Gardener Twitter List

For more information about growing vegetables on Twitter, try the Topsy Twitter search engine for keywords like #growyourown or #allotment

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Here’s a few last minute quirky Vegetable Grower Gifts for 2011 which will help you find a present for the gardener who has everything. Please note the majority of last delivery dates are 20th – 22nd December, but please check on the individual shop websites for more details.

For the Man in your Life

Crazy Plant Man T-Shirt

Crazy Plant Man T-Shirt

Shop: CafePress – Crazy Plants
Colours: Various including Green
Sizes: S to 3XL
Also Available in: Long Sleeve T-Shirt

I’m not suggesting all men who grow plants are crazy, but if you find one that is, into plants I mean and happens to be totally crazy, then this is the gift for them.

Here’s a special Men’s Gift Bag to go with it.

I Love Sheds T-Shirt

I Love Sheds T-Shirt

Shop: CafePress – Readersheds
Sizes: Small to 2XL
Colours: Vary with Clothing Type – Navy, White, Grey, Black, Pink
Alternatives: I Love Sheds Clothing range includes: hoodies and sweatshirts. Other gifts include: Mugs and shot glasses.

In association with Readersheds.co.uk, this range of clothing has been lovingly produced for all types of shed lovers (men and women). This would be the perfect present to shed off the winter blues by wrapping up warm in one of these T-Shirts, Sweaters or Hoodies. It definitely beats the christmas knitted jumper with santa on.

Technology Genius

Green Leaf iPhone Case

iPhone Leaf Case

Shop: Zazzle
Colours: Green Leaf, Wood Textures and Brown Leaf
Also Available: iPad Case

A realistic looking vibrant green leaf case for the iPhone and iPad is the perfect gift for when nature meets technology and camouflage’s it. Perfect for anyone who loves nature, the outdoors or growing plants, just be careful not to put it down in the woods, you may not find it again.

Music Lover

Can You Dig It? CD

Can You Dig It? CD Album

Shop: Can You Dig It?
Features: A bumper crop of 16 humorous songs sung by Jo Stephenson and Dan Woods about growing your own vegetables.
Song titles include:

• To Who Ever Stole my Giant Marrow,
• A Sprout is not only for Christmas,
• Somethin’s Been Nibblin’ Me Pumpkins,
• Derrick the Evil pigeon and
• there’s even a bit of a rap thrown in for good measure called Gardener Vs Slug.

There are snippets of a few of the tracks on the website to wet your appetite.

Last Order Date: 20th December 2011.

Windowsill Growers

Capsule Pots

Capsule Pot

Shop: Not on The High Street – Beecycle

A stylish self watering space saving capsule which can be put on your desk or windowsill, it comes with a choice of four herb seeds (Basil, Thyme, Parsley and Oregano) just add water and the seeds to start growing.

This is a lovely little stocking filler that anyone would love to have sitting in their window, it would also be good for children as well.

Take a Note or Two

Allotment Sticky Note Pad

Allotment Sticky Note Pad

Shop: Wildforms.co.uk

A handy compact note pad with sticky sheets decorated with allotment illustrations is the perfect stocking filler for the gardener that can never find a bit of paper when they need one. Just remember to buy a pen too attached to a bit of string.

Gardeners Magnetic Memo Pads

Memo Pads

Shop: EggCup and Blanket

This is a bumper 3 Memo pads pack containing:

• Gardeners notes,
• Things to do in the garden and
• Planting notes.

These are perfect for the home gardener, all with handy magnetic strips so they can be attached to the fridge. With 96 Tear off sheets in each pad means you’ll never forget to write down when and where your seeds were sown.

Veg Based Words

Edward Monkton’s range of gifts are great and their words bring joy and happiness to all, so here’s are a few vegetable garden gifts you might be interested in:

Friendship Kitchen Worktop Saver

Worktop Saver

Shop: CampusGifts.co.uk

A lovely worktop protector for the kitchen made from tempered glass and is heat resistant up to 160 degrees centigrade. Easy to clean and a joy to read the words of wisdom as follows:

The GARLIC is a friend of the CARROTS
the CARROTS are friends of the POTATO
the ONION is fickle and cannot decide
where her loyalties lie and has hence
formed a LOVELESS but PRACTICAL
alliance with everyone except the
BROCCOLI. Do not ask about the
BROCOLLI it will only MAKE YOU CRY

The Garden of your Heart Coaster

The Garden of your Heart

Shop: CampusGifts.co.uk

A drinks coaster for that perfect cup of tea or shot with the meaningful words as follows:

The GARDEN of your HEART
And in the Sacred Garden of
your HEART grow 4 bright
flowers – of Kindness, Wonder,
Happiness and LOVE.

Fruits Designs

Fruit Tree Apple Makeup Bag

Apple Makeup Bag

Shop: CampusGifts.co.uk

A lovely bright apple designed makeup bag measuring 7 inch by 5 inches with a zipper apple and polker dot lining.

Also Available: Apple Design in a Wallet, Tote Bag or overnight bag and Pear Design.

Real Fruit

The Mulberry Crate

The Mulberry Crate

Shop: Gluttonous Gardener

Introduce your nearest and dearest to growing fruit trees with this fabulous growing gift of a ready to plant mulberry tree, mulberry jam and syrup in a lovely presentation gift box and gift message included.

Alternatives: The Winter Chills and Misery Kit, The Nut Case and The Wild Strawberry Box.

Have a Great Christmas from iGrowVeg.com

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My first ever Radish

I absolutely love the design of my new logo which can be found at the top of my blog and newsletter. The Radish icon has great significance to me as it was the very first vegetable I grew and harvested on my vegetable plot back in 2007.
Post: Radish Harvest – Delicious!

Radishes have struck a chord with me throughout my vegetable growing years as I have harvested them every year. I have grown French Breakfast, Scarlet Globe and Pink Beauty to find a mild variety to satisfy my taste buds. I found my tastiest Radish last year in the form of the beautifully rosy ‘Pink Beauty’ Variety.
Post: Harvesting Radishes – Pretty in Pink

The humble radish is one of the easiest vegetables to grow so to have the radish icon on the iGrowVeg logo is brilliant, its like saying start growing your own vegetables here as its easy when you know how.

Pink Beauty Radish

More News

And there’ll be more news from iGrowVeg in a few months time as I have some projects in progress at the moment. All will be revealed in the New Year!

In the meantime I’d love to hear what you think of my new logo, please leave your comments below.

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I’ve decided over the past few weeks, that I could do with saving some money over Christmas and into the new year and I can save money as I have potatoes, carrots, shallots, green beans etc in storage but I’m not using them to their best and most importantly tastiest advantage.

My cooking ability is ok, I am good at baking cakes, biscuits etc but I don’t tend to cook main meals very often and when I do its something like Shepherds pie which is in my cooking comfort zone. In these batch recipe trials, I aim to go out of my comfort zone and hopefully cook up some tasty and freezable recipes on the cheap.

My first recipe is from BBC Good Food website or on Twitter @bbcgoodfood:

Mushroom, Shallot and Squash Pie

Recipe Link: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/853636/mushroom-shallot-and-squash-pie

Homemade Veg Pie

I chose this recipe because:

• It sounded like a hearty pie,
• It would use up some of my stored shallots,
• I had a 3 week old butternut squash in the cupboard and needed to use it,
• It didn’t look too difficult to make (everyone can make a pie right?),
• Its freezable for up to 2 months

I made this recipe without the dried porcini mushrooms and to save money on the puff pastry, I made my own shortcrust pastry from the very easy recipe Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall used to make his Spinach and Thyme Pasties from in Rover Cottage Veg.
Pastry Recipe here: Spinach and Thyme Pasties.

Review on Preparation:
The is no hiding the fact that there’s a lot of chopping vegetables in this recipe. Notably so were the very strong shallots which left me almost blind with tears!

Harvested Shallots

Review on Cooking:
I made the pastry first as it needs 30 minutes in the fridge before rolling out. I chopped the vegetables and used a number of saucepans to fry the squash in one and shallots in the other, then the mushrooms in another before combining it all together. The flour and vegetable stock sauce was a challenge as there was quite a few lumps of flour but I kept stirring quickly and most cleared away, the rest went during cooking.

Quantity of Vegetables to Pastry:
The pastry more than covered the large dish and one individual dish. I wrapped up the remaining pastry and left in the fridge for a Spinach pasty or two. There was enough of the vegetable mix to fill the large dish and individual dish, this will be four to five portions.

If I made this recipe again, I would:
Make the portions in individual takeaway cartons or cookable and freezable containers, so they could be taken from the freezer in individual portions rather than the large dish I made it in this time.

Verdict:
The lovely roasted shallot smell and the softness of the squash and creamy sauce made this pie a delicious vegetarian meal to suit a large family or batch individual meals. There is a subtle mushroom flavour but as the mushrooms were sliced, these pieces were almost lost in the sauce. Next time I might add quarters of mushrooms instead of slicing them. Overall a recommended winter warmer.

If you have any recipes you’d like me to try or you can recommend, please leave a comment.

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Cutting Grass using Scissors

I can see myself down on my hands and knees with a pair of nail scissors, trimming the grass carpet as if it was a prize topiary clipping.

And what about the watering, too much water and you’ll be creating a pond in your living room and risk saturating the wood flooring till its warped beyond repair (I can just imagine the accidental damage call to the insurer’s on that one) or not enough water and risk a grass no show or you’ll have to sow grass seed in the patches to complete your overall design.

I thought you could only grow grass seed in spring and autumn outdoors but maybe the central heating and halogen spot lighting will produce a different set of climatic conditions. The last time I grew my tomato seedlings under these conditions they went very leggy which may not be aesthetically pleasing if it happens on your brand new £1,000 rug.

Another thought, when have you ever looked at your lawn and thought, yep that needs more moss?
I can categorically say never, if anything my garden lawn needs to be 90% less moss and more grass. Yes I know, I’m obviously not doing it right.

I haven’t even touched on the Sofa Potato Planter and where the natural light will come from for that.
If you have cats, its just a no, no and no, cats and dirt don’t mix. Not to mention how you would go about harvesting all those tiny spuds, its not like you can just tip it all out on the floor or on the designer grass rug although it might make it look more authentic.

More Grass Madness

• Grass Walker
• Flying Green Carpet
• How To Lay a Grass Carpet
• How To Crochet or Knit a Grass Rug
• uFresh Grass Foot Massager
• Grow a Grass Houseplant
• Use Grass in your Home Decor
• Green Up Winter Days with Grass

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