Alex Grows Food

For those of you keen to start growing your veg plants, I've got a list of seeds that you can sow this month: www.alexgrowsfood.com/post/seeds-to-sow-in-februar…

It's aimed at UK growers but those of you in the US and most of Canada & Europe will be able to follow along too.

The southern hemisphere.... errr.... is it the middle of summer down there?

Still working on some videos and, a couple of minor setbacks aside (spoiler: my water butt has a leak), I'm hoping to bring them to you soon.

HG - Alex

10 months ago | [YT] | 7

Alex Grows Food

January is a fairly cold and dark month so there isn't much to do in the way of seed sowing.

However these crops will do a lot better if started early, especially here in the UK where we have a much later last frost and (generally) cooler summer than some of our American cousins.

If you want to be a bit more adventurous there are some more seeds you can sow over at www.alexgrowsfood.com/post/seeds-to-sow-in-january… but you will need to bring your own heat & light and be willing to face a few failures if we have a very harsh winter.

I'm totally down for that but, if not, these three should keep you going until February when the traditional sowing window for a lot more plants starts to open up.

Have a great week, keep an eye on any weather warnings over the next couple of days and otherwise, as always, happy gardening!

Alex

11 months ago | [YT] | 12

Alex Grows Food

Happy new year everyone!

Long time, no speak. Hope you all had a good Christmas and I've got a few updates for you.

I'm mid-shoot on a couple of videos. They are going to take a few weeks to make but hope to have something with you towards the end of the month.

For those desperate to stay in touch sooner, I'll be doing more work on the website and Instagram this year. YouTube is always the main focus but it doesn't take as long to write an article or publish a photo. Links to everything in the video descriptions and on the channel page.

And late last year I won Gardening Video of the Year at the Garden Media Guild Awards 2024 (yes, that's twice in a row :D ). I'm not a big shot or anything but managed to bump into a few famous garden YouTubers, Instagrammers and Gardeners' World presenters.

Another slightly unusual year over and looking forward to bringing more gardening videos your way soon.

Happy Gardening

Alex

11 months ago | [YT] | 17

Alex Grows Food

Sorry I've been quiet recently. On the 11th May we suffered an attack by an out of control dog and it killed one of the girls. She had lots of names but 'officially' I called her Number One because she hatched half a day ahead of the rest and she was my favourite. She's now buried under the apple tree with a yellow chard plant placed on top because they were her favourites.

This paragraph gets a little violent so skip it if you don't want to read it but I had to tackle and then wrestle the dog into submission. I was injured a little but the other chickens seemed to have escaped. I actually almost saved her but I saw blood fly past (and then land on me) moments before making contact. There was about half a second in it but I was too late. The dog resisted a lot but I landed on top of its bulk and managed to keep its head down so, through sheer luck, the risk to me was lowered pretty quickly.

But I think it's impacted me more than I realised and it's hard to create right now. The police messed up badly so I've spent most of the month trying to put them on the right track and speaking to solicitors about other costs and talking about it wipes me out. The owner is also a dog trainer and that irks me more than it should. I've also been hatching new chicks (you're really meant to have 3 minimum) and need to clear out a room in my house for them. It's been a lot.

I will get back to making videos for you - I've shelved some (and people keep beating me to my ideas) and I have some good ones planned... But it's not going to be this week. I have managed to clear the garden and plant the tomatoes and peppers, I just didn't film it.

Hope your gardens are doing well and the silly temperatures this year are working in your favour (and you magically live in a slug-free zone). And if you know someone with a dog that would rather chase a bird than respond to it's name, make them put it on a lead.

HG

Alex

Skip the Carousel

1 2 3 4

1 year ago | [YT] | 10

Alex Grows Food

Thanks for all the support on the slug barrier test video! I didn't explain this in the video but I tried out a few beers - an amber ale, a bitter and a stout. By a large margin it seems that the slugs cannot get enough of the black stuff. Not sure what they put in Guinness that does it, but that's a full bowl and I didn't spot any escapees, while the amber ale stayed a lot clearer.

I also tried the home ferment method where you make your own sugar-water-yeast mix but it didn't come as close.

Not an endorsement. Unfortunately I don't even like drinking the stuff and just bought a bottle for the vid!

If you haven't seen me go head-to-head with Arthur the slug and risk eating a snail, the video is here: https://youtu.be/0xOyu0YrS3c

HG

Alex

1 year ago | [YT] | 5

Alex Grows Food

Hi everyone, long time no video... I've been working non-stop for a few weeks on a piece about stopping slugs with my boy Arthur here which I really had hoped would be out today. With any luck it'll get to you this bank holiday weekend!

In the meantime, with weather this good, I'll be planting tomatoes as soon as I upload. The recommended temperature is usually 12C/57F overnight but I normally only wait until 8C and it looks like we're there already. I haven't seen a frost since February here in South Cambridgeshire so realistically I think the last frost dates can be ignored this year --- but I have been a very lazy boy and have missed the early mornings. On the other hand, I've not seen a freezing temperature in months!

Strawberries and raspberries should be coming to a taste bud near you very soon. And, with any luck, another YouTube video.

HG

Alex

1 year ago | [YT] | 8

Alex Grows Food

I've got something a bit different for you this weekend.

A lot of you probably know ‪@LizZorab‬. I was lucky enough to meet her last year and a little while ago she invited me to be on the new series of her podcast and I'm in the episode out this weekend. It was my first ever podcast (so be gentle in the comments) but you can find it at all your usual podcast places. We talk about what we grow and preserve (or don't!), how I got into gardening and making videos and my award win in November.

No video from me this weekend - I've been studying all things photo, video & editing and re-planning my content. Hope to bring you some exciting stuff fairly soon.

Also the weather here is ridiculous. It hasn't dipped below freezing for months and I don't think I've had a frost since February (although I have been getting up late). Most nights on the forecast are nearer 10C than 0C so I might plant out my courgettes this weekend and start direct sowing climbing beans.... This year is definitely looking good for those tomatoes I started in the grow lights video in December, if the forecast looks good at the end of the month they might go out early - 3 or 4 weeks ahead of my supposed last frost date.

HG

- Alex

Skip the Carousel

1 2

1 year ago | [YT] | 5

Alex Grows Food

If you've got a plastic greenhouse then it's time to batten down the hatches to stop this from happening. Find out how I and hundreds of other gardeners secure their greenhouses in this video: https://youtu.be/QguULHRfWI8

As much as I love Spring, it does bring a lot of changeable weather --- where I am that means more scattered showers and much higher winds will visit more regularly, especially during the day.

This weekend the UK is expecting a pretty widespread storm, so if you haven't done so yet, then it's worth spending some time tonight re-enforcing your plastic greenhouse and checking on it each morning before the wind picks up. Make sure that you've:

- shut the door
- weighed down the flaps
- tightened the guy ropes
- patched over any holes
- and put any spare or unused bags of compost on the base of the frame

And when you get more time be sure to make more substantial upgrades and maintain your greenhouse so that it lasts for several years.


Otherwise, you might end up with a not-so-Happy Gardening experience like I did in Storm Isha in January

1 year ago | [YT] | 5

Alex Grows Food

Instead of a video, I've got something special for you all this weekend....

I'm going to try a livestream! The channel has been going for about a year now and we hit a pretty big milestone recently (more than a1,000 of you decided to hit subscribe), so what better way to celebrate? I'm also way behind on my seed sowing so I had a clever idea....

Let's all sow some seeds together during the livestream. Let us know where you are and what you're growing in the chat and I'll try and answer your questions (ask me anything) and hopefully we can all get a head-start on Spring which officially starts on Wednesday!

I'll be online at 5pm this Sunday (London time) which I think works out at 1pm New York, 10am Los Angeles, 2pm Paris --- YouTube will do a better job at converting to your timezone.

Come and join me here youtube.com/live/baPGkogxlNo

And until then, Happy Gardening!

1 year ago | [YT] | 11

Alex Grows Food

Good morning, folks! No video from me this weekend (I've been recovering from an event in London) but if you haven't had time to do it yet, I'd definitely start sowing the February seeds: https://youtu.be/y9Wf76jMTbQ

It could also be worth popping in some leeks, some chard and maybe even direct sowing some broad beans depending on the weather - March is looking daringly warm where I am for the next two weeks (maybe a frost on Monday and that's it?!).

I reckoned garlic would get enough frost in March & April but it almost looks like we could have planted onion sets in February! I thought it was a funny joke but I actually might start filming in shorts in a couple of weeks....

As always, Happy Gardening!

1 year ago | [YT] | 3