The Gooden Life

When a major Royal Horticultural Society comes to your doorstep it'd be rude not to go, wouldn't it? Keith & Freya have lost the plot and are at the Badminton estate in southern Gloucestershire for RHS Badminton 2026, the first time a major show on the calendar has come to the area. The weather is great for the show and we are talking with some of the exhibitors who have a stake (ged...

Keith & Freya are planting something Italian and delicious for winter cropping, endive you eat with white beans. You get it in now and pick to enjoy in the colder months.  Some of our French beans need infilling but you have to be quick this time of year as those lovely legumes want to flower and set the bean pods all at once.  It's also time to feed your courgette (zuchini) plants to kee...

There's been a heatwave in England this week and it's brought on the garlic crop (38 degrees Celsius for three days). So it comes and without giving too much away, it's looking great!  What to do with the gaps in the raised beds it has come from? Well how about two P's? Pak Choi and Mange Tout peas? It may seem a little late, but in the Pak Choi's case, it loves being sown...

The spring planting rush is over and it's time to take stock on the plot this week. What's growing well? What needs some help? What pests are eating your produce before you can and what have you forgotten? There's nothing wrong with sitting on your plot in the sun and just enjoying nature and the insects and animals we share the allotment or garden with. Saying that, the black fly a...

Keith & Freya are sheltering from the wind and rain and are going to scurry out between the showers to plant this year's Leek crop.... A highly unusual planting method compared to most veg. Freya's has also been harvesting wild Elderflower and making this year@s cordial. A top drink with Cava or Prosecco in the depths of winter..... We are also tending the chilli plants and the tomat...

This week it's all about those jobs to make sure your harvest is as good as it possibly can be. Are your potatoes looking healthy? Green, not yellow? Well now it's time to cover them up with soil to cut out the light and persuade them to form some more tubers for your harvest come September or October. It's hard work so choose your day to do it carefully. Not too hot. It's also...

It's time to net our strawberry crop for this year. Keith & Freya have allowed the plants to flower and the pollinators to visit to set the fruit. Now it's time to make sure the birds don't get your delicious crop. The purple sprouting broccoli we will be cropping next February and March are going in too and again, if you don't net your crop as you transplant it, the wildli...

Keith & Freya are at the biggest(and poshest) horticultural show in the UK, The RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Amongst the famous faces and expensive items there's also huge inspiration for allotmenters and plotters. What to grow and how you can mix your veg and decorative flower gardens to feed your tummy as well as your eyes and nose. In today's episode we give a nod to heritage seed ret...

Keith & Freya are on the plot this week hoping you didn't lose much when that annual May frost hit earlier this week. But don't despair if you've lost tomato plants or courgettes. There's still plenty of time to grow more plants from seed and some of them can be directly sowed, as the ground has warmed over the past few months. We are netting our freshly planted Collard gre...

The big Spring planting season is with us on the plot and the garden, working hard to get your crops in for this year! Keith & Freya are planting their courgette (Zuchini) into their final growing positions. Ditto the parsnips with some handy tips on how to grow these , sometimes difficult to raise, root veg.  We investigate why it was an overfed carrot on Sigourney Weaver's face in Alien...

Keith & Freya are on the plot this week direct sowing the runner and climbing French beans.  Also trimming the scapes from shallots and garlic plants, and giving some advice about grape vines. You can eat the leaves you know..... We also learn some Klingon and get ready for planting out our carefully nurtured baby plants into their final positions. 

Keith & Freya are on their sunny plot today bending their backs and still getting the main crop potatoes in for 2026. It's hot work as the English climate has taken a turn for the better, but it's very dry. That means, making sure young plants don't dry out. Have you planted some flower seed this year? Or checked your flowering perennials for the pollinators? You need the bees a...

Back on the plot with Keith & Freya this week as they get their main crop spuds in, finally get that dang strawberry bed cleared of Couch grass and feed the wild mice to keep the little critters off our crops.... There's the new carrot crop and a reminder of how to keep the dreaded carrot fly off the  plants, and tis on what to plant now, to overwinter and feed you in the depths of the da...