ATCO expert

The sun is out and the birds are singing, it must be time for National BBQ Week … hurray!  Are you a banger or a burger person?  If you are vegetarian you are in luck too as we have an Aubergine Burger devised by the chef Valerie Hamelin using the Aubergine ‘Meatball’ from Burpee Europe recipe for you below!

July is ‘National Picnic Month’ and the great outdoors and some lovely chow beckon!  So, whether you are taking a trip to the beach, planning on visiting the countryside or simply looking forward to munch in your own back garden these tips could be handy!

‘British Tomato Fortnight’ is an annual event that aims to celebrate and highlight the wonderful British tomato!  This fortnight encourages consumers to buy local tomatoes and to 'grow your own' tomatoes.

There is nothing quite as magnificent as growing your own vegetables, but tomatoes really are the pièce de résistance when it comes to the satisfaction of tending and eating the fruits of your labours! 

A new year and a new beginning to another gardening season! Those of us fortunate enough to have a garden during the Covid period have been so lucky over the last couple of years, enjoying physical and mental exercise and probably gaining a lot of knowledge in the process!

December already and where has the year gone? It seems to have passed in a flash! This year saw many new gardeners appear as well as encouraging some whose passion may have lapsed over the years! As we move into winter, it’s you might think there’s not much to do in our gardens, but you would be wrong, December can be a hive of activity! 

November is a good time for contemplation. Take a good luck at your lawns. Happy with them? If not, look at an action plan for next year in terms of what needs doing and when.

There are some good companies operating nationally who will come and renovate your lawn and carry out all maintenance leaving you to do just the mowing to do!

One of the great things about keeping a diary is that you can learn from it and this is especially true with a gardening diary. Varieties, sowing/planting dates, soil and weather conditions, pest and disease control, temperatures and rainfall, all can provide useful information to plan your gardening year for 2022.

We’ve got some great tips on how you can celebrate 31 October by creating a spooktacular Halloween garden, complete with a perfectly carved pumpkin!

Lawns – so it’s a busy time on your lawn in October, but here’s a tip to make life easier! For those final mowings of the season, use the mower to shred the leaves and add organic humus to the lawn – it saves you the problem of sweeping them up!

Autumn is with us and let’s hope the good weather continues, to raise our spirits and shorten the winter!