This archive brings together practical, experience-led articles from The Backyard Farmer, covering gardening, DIY, indoor growing, foraging, reviews, and sustainable living. Each post is written with real-world use in mind — focusing on working with nature, building practical skills, and making sustainable choices more accessible.
Introduction If you’ve ever stood in front of a tray of seeds in March and thought, “I’ll just grow a bit of everything,” you’re not alone. In fact, most of us start a vegetable garden full of enthusiasm. However, by late summer, we’re often staring
Introduction If you’ve ever stood in your garden and thought, “What if I had just a bit more land?” — you’re not alone. In fact, most people researching how to start smallholding UK don’t begin with a field. They begin with raised beds, a compost
Introduction Summer planting in the UK feels different — and if you’ve been growing since spring, you’ll notice the shift straight away. By June, most beds are already producing. Then, by July or August, it’s completely normal to pause and think: “Have I missed my
Introduction April marks the real start of spring harvest momentum in many UK gardens. The days are noticeably longer, the soil begins to warm, and growth speeds up across the plot. As a result, there’s a clear jump in both variety and quantity compared to
Introduction March sits right in the middle of the UK’s “hungry gap” — that stretch where winter crops are winding down but true spring abundance hasn’t quite arrived. However, that doesn’t mean your beds are empty. In fact, there are still plenty of vegetables ready
Introduction This UK harvest calendar shows you exactly what to harvest each month in the UK, whether you’re growing on an allotment, in a back garden, or under cover in a greenhouse or polytunnel. In simple terms, it’s a practical UK vegetable and fruit harvest
Introduction If you’ve ever stood on your allotment wondering what you should be doing right now, you’re definitely not alone. Most UK gardeners don’t need more theory or long explanations. Instead, they need a clear, practical allotment calendar they can rely on — something that
Introduction: It’s not just you If you’ve ever opened an allotment planner and felt instantly overwhelmed, you’re definitely not alone. Most gardeners — especially those new to allotments — expect an allotment planner or allotment planning software to make things clearer and easier. However, what
Intro: Why This Planner Exists I’m a working gardener based in the UK, and I built this free vegetable garden planner for a simple reason: I needed a practical, reliable way to plan real food growing — not just tidy diagrams that look good on
Intro: Why This Planner Exists I’m a working gardener based in the UK, and I built this free vegetable garden planner for a simple reason: I needed a practical, reliable way to plan real food growing — not just sketch tidy diagrams that look good
Intro: Why This Planner Exists I’m a working gardener based in the UK, and I built this free vegetable garden planner for a simple reason: I needed a practical, reliable way to plan real food growing — not just sketch tidy diagrams that look good
Introduction If you’ve landed here because the BBC Virtual Garden Planner is no longer working, you’re not alone — and you’re definitely not doing anything wrong. For years, the BBC Virtual Garden Planner was a familiar starting point for UK gardeners looking for a simple