The Gooden Life

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 tomatoes and it's perfect growing conditions for the potatoes too. 

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 time to get lots of well rotted manure on the pumpkin and squash bed so these heavy feeders have the best chance of putting on weight from their vines before halloween !

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 wildlife will move in and decimate your plants. Be it birds or caterpillars.So plot along with us and together we'll be eating freshly grown veg and the wildlife will have to look elsewhere!

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 retailers as well as our tip for the Garden of The Year prize...... (We were bang on!)So take inspiration from such shows as Chelsea, because the best and brightest designers and growers showcase what can be done on the plot...... 

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 greens and Brussel sprouts as if you don't nettum, you won't gettum!We are also keeping an eye on those all important insect pollinators and looking forward to RHS Chelsea Flower Show next week, when we'll bring you a special podcast next Sunday!  

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 and why you can't overfeed a pumpkin once it's in it's final growing bed.

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 and insects to do their thing so you can maximise your crop this year.Fancy Borage tea or a poultice? It really IS a thing........

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 dark days. You have to plan ahead now!

Keith & Freya are doing a general tidy up on the plot this week and thinking of planting on the tomato plants sown a couple of months ago. Plant deep for a top crop!It's time to get the last of your brassica seeds in and of course your first early and second early spuds.... Don't forget them like we did......advice on how to feed your tomato and strawberry pants to avoid getting too many leaves and the struggle to hold back getting your legumes in, in case of frosts....

Join Keith & Freya on the 'lotty this week and find out why the Brits call Easter a Bank Holiday.It's time to get our Charlotte second early potatoes in the ground, dig up some of the dandelions that spring to life at this time of year and learn why those yellow brassica flowers are so good for your plot and the insects that live on it.We check our seed planting program, ( It's essential you don't forget anything), and Freya is still battling with the Couch grass in her strawberry bed. It's hard work but worth the effort!

Keith & Freya are on the plot this week harvesting last year's leek crop. They'll be frozen and used throughout the next twelve months for soups and stews and casseroles (?)...We are also talking you through your first few months of taking on a plot or growing vegetables and fruit. Have you heard of square metre (Meter in the US) gardening? Well, listen in and we'll get you started growing and cropping your own food with tips on what and what not to do to get started..... 

Keith & Freya are on the plot this week prepping for the new growing season in the company of worm hungry Robins.It's time to get the Broad Bean (Fava Beans) in, get digging and feeding the soil and sorting out which seeds can be planted out directly and which need cosseting on a window sill. So the hard work of spring growing has started and the next few weeks are crucial for your crops later this year.

This week Keith & Freya are in Valenciain Spain for the Mascaleta ...Fireworks and burning of huge statues made of papier mache, but also a lesson in how we gauge the heat and light where we live to get the best out of our crops and flowers.Spain has more heat and light then the UK and two growing seasons as a result. Its the first strawberry season right now! In the UK we are just waking up from winter.So the lessons are: Don't try to control nature, and read your seed packets....

Keith & Freya are still dodging the rain and unable to get on the plot this week, but that doesn't stop us from planning and planting!Today, get your parsnips started in a different way, its time for tomatoes to be planed in pots or cells and we've been pruning rose bushes for the new season.There's tips on high potash feed to give your growing a boost and news of a special episode next week!

Keith & Freya are starting a brand new year of plotting, gardening, veg, fruit and flower growing for 2026!This week replanting fruit trees on the allotment, planting salad seeds in trays, and chitting spuds...... I know, "chitting"... (Sounds a bit rude) Tips on how to treat your autumn fruiting raspberries, seeding broad beans (fava beans) and how to prune your blackcurrant bush (ooh! err Matron) to get the best out of it....New growing season... Lets get going!