Young Growers Club by Laura

15/10/2026

If you can get yourself a bargain chive plant you make yourself multiple plants for the price of 1!

I have chives in each planting guild for my allotment food forest so this is just ideal timing and saves me growing any of seed (although they are easy to grow). Not only does it provide me with food it also deters pests and the bees love the flowers.

Also thanks for providing me with more than just paint this week 🫠

13/10/2026

A spinach that climbs! Has anyone grown malabar spinach before?

13/10/2026

Following on from my detailed ‘overwintering veg’ videos I thought it might be helpful to give you a quick overview of when and where I sow my veg.

I haven’t included spring cabbages (one of my favourites) in this overview because it’s too late to sow these now but I have got my other favourites which you still have time to plant.

I tend to mix up whether I start them directly outside or inside first but all of them end up outside in November, except the spring onions who stay in my greenhouse overwinter.

Also worth noting you can still plant garlic well into November so there’s no rush if you’re still working out where to put it or preparing the ground.

You can also overwinter peas for an early harvest next year but that’s not something I usually do.

Would love to know if you’re growing for your 2027 garden and what you’re planning ☺️

12/10/2026

I’m excited to let you know that I will be running my gardening club for home educating families and children under 5 into November & December.

So far I’ve released 3 new dates (details to book are in my bio) and depending on the weather we may be able to fit in one more date before a Christmas.

The sessions are aimed to be practical and fun with lots of gardening and a bit of crafts. All sessions take place at the beautiful

If you have any questions about the sessions feel free to message me ☺️

Hope to see you there 🪏

11/10/2026

My next video in my overwintering veg series is my absolute favourite, garlic!

Varieties I grew last year were:

- Extra early wight
- ⁠Provence wight
- ⁠Carcassonne wight

All of these came from

Let me know if you have any garlic growing questions in the comments and I’ll be sure to answer them 🧄

11/10/2026

Perennial veg all the way!

In the wake of this summer’s drought and rising energy costs, there is renewed interest in perennial crops…

10/10/2026

1. plant garlic in autumn. Garlic needs a prolonged period of cold weather typically a few weeks to a couple of months below 10°C to trigger the clove to split and form a multi-clove bulb. So planting in autumn gives you stronger root development, larger bulbs, and a more reliable harvest.

2. add organic matter and fertiliser to the soil before planting. Adding organic matter when planting garlic improves soil structure, water retention, and nutrient content, leading to healthier and more vigorous growth. Adding a fertiliser will only improve this more.

Note: don’t choose a site that gets waterlogged as garlic won’t like it

3. grow a mixture of hardneck and softneck varieties. Growing both hardneck and softneck garlic allows me to enjoy a mix of strong and mild flavors, collect both the large cloves and the edible scapes (scapes are only produced by hardneck varieties), and have garlic available for a longer portion of the year due to their different storage characteristics.

4. mulch garlic over winter with organic mulch like grass clippings or compost. Mulching garlic over winter protects the plants from extreme temperatures, suppresses weeds, and retains soil moisture. This insulation prevents the damaging freeze-thaw cycles that can push cloves out of the ground and shields young shoots from winter weather. It also improves long-term soil health by adding nutrients and reducing erosion, ultimately leading to a better harvest.

Garlic can be sown now and all the way into November (that’s when I tend to sow mine) so still lots of time to give it a go. Plus if you are limited on space garlic can easily be grown it in a pot or container 😁

09/10/2026

Food growing is all about trial and error and sometimes you have to give things a go to learn more about your space.

At home I could never grow onions or shallots in the ground because it’s too clay and can get waterlogged, although I would be interested to try growing them again now that I’ve worked on the soil so much.

At the allotment the soil is clay loam but I’ve never tried to overwinter in it so I wanted to see whether it will be similar to my soil at home and I’ll need to overwinter them in raised beds or I’ll be able to grow them directly in the ground.

Either way the experiment will give me more knowledge about my space and hopefully a few shallots (if they don’t rot 😬)

09/10/2026

This looks like such a fun day!

This Saturday (10 October) is Luton Mini Apple Day! 🍎

Pop down to Stockingstone Meadow to enjoy nature crafts, apple tasting, apple pressing, acoustic music, a guided walk, and more 🙌 It's the perfect autumnal day out for the whole family!

Find out more on our What's On guide, the link is in our bio 🔗

08/10/2026

Thought you guys might enjoy a little noisy in the greenhouse ☺️

At the moment the tomatoes are still going strong as are 2 cucumber plants but the autumn veg is also taking up a lot of space soooo it’s time to start clearing. Today I’m going to take out most of the basil so I can fill the gaps with winter lettuce.

Then once the other summer veg are out I’ll get more salad leaves sown as having a productive greenhouse over winter is almost more satisfying than having a full one in the summer.

Also I didn’t bother showing the sides with all the veg / flowers I’ve sown for overwintering but let me know if you want to see that as well. oh and who spotted the chicken continuously pecking me?