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.
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
The BBC Virtual Garden Planner no longer works reliably on modern browsers or operating systems. The original tool appears to have been retired and is no longer maintained, so changing browser settings or reinstalling old files is unlikely to provide a dependable fix. Some archived
Nature does not follow a perfect timetable, and neither does your garden. The weather changes quickly, soil can warm more slowly than expected, and advice that worked one year may need adjusting the next. That is why this monthly UK planting guide is best used
Why Small Allotments Can Be Productive A small allotment or compact garden can produce a useful amount of food when you choose crops that earn their space. Quick salads, climbing beans, leafy greens, roots and compact varieties can all provide reliable harvests without overcrowding the
Square foot gardening divides a bed into 1 ft × 1 ft sections, with each square planted according to the space a crop needs. It is a simple way to organise a raised bed, avoid overcrowding and make the most of a small UK garden
Planning your first allotment can feel overwhelming at first. When you’re standing on a bare plot, it can be hard to picture where the beds, paths, crops, compost, water storage, and sheds should go. Let alone if you have inherited an overgrown plot! The good
If you’re looking for the best place to buy vegetable seeds in the UK, DT Brown is my top overall pick for most home and allotment growers. It offers good value, a practical vegetable range, and the sort of straightforward seed buying that suits people
Finding the Perfect Gift for Gardeners Finding the right Christmas gift for a gardener isn’t always straightforward. Whether they love pottering in the greenhouse, pruning roses, or tending to veg beds, most gardeners are practical people who appreciate quality gardening tools that genuinely make a
Introduction Creating a wildlife friendly low maintenance garden UK doesn’t have to be complicated or costly. With a few smart choices in low maintenance garden design, you can enjoy a space that largely looks after itself while providing bees, butterflies, birds, and hedgehogs with food
Introduction Every gardener and forager knows the feeling when everything ripens at once. Bowls of tomatoes, baskets of apples, and piles of courgettes are a gift of abundance — yet without a plan, they quickly turn into waste. With energy costs climbing, finding simple, low