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 I tried to avoid using garden netting for vegetable beds for a while. Not because I had anything against it. I just wanted the softer, more natural methods to work first. Like a lot of growers, I liked the idea of sorting pest problems
Introduction Summer can be productive in a UK vegetable garden, but it is also when crops can go off track quickly. In hot, dry weather, you might notice: If crops suddenly start rushing to seed in June, July or August, you are probably dealing with
Introduction If a tree in your garden suddenly starts leaning, dropping leaves early, or showing fungus at the base, it’s easy to wonder whether something is seriously wrong. In many cases, the issue is less dramatic than it looks — trees are resilient, and seasonal
Introduction Looking for a mole windmill that actually works? This DIY wind-powered mole deterrent — sometimes called a “Mole-Mill” — is simple to build and surprisingly effective. If you’ve noticed molehills appearing overnight, soft spots in the ground, or uprooted plants, you likely have a
Bug hotels provide nesting and sheltering spaces for solitary bees, beetles, ladybirds and other beneficial garden insects. They can be built from simple materials such as untreated wood, hollow stems, bark, dry leaves and old bricks, many of which you may already have in the
Introduction Slugs are one of the most frustrating pests in UK gardens, especially in mild, wet weather when seedlings, lettuce and hostas can be hit overnight. Natural slug control does work, but it works best as a layered approach rather than one miracle trick. The