16 March 2021 | Gardening tips
Rusty vegetables? Did you know that there are over 500 types of rust that affect plants? Rust is a spore that usually begins as white spots on the leaves or stems of plants and becomes yellow or orange or sometimes black as it progresses. It is a fungal parasite that...
13 March 2021 | Gardening tips
Sap sucking insects and what to do about them Sap sucking insects, as their name suggests, suck the sap out of plant leaves leaving them at best pale and spotty and at worst, having devoured all the chlorophyll, white, dry and lifeless. There is a large range of sap...
13 March 2021 | Gardening tips
Should I use a wound paint on pruning cuts? Should I use a wound paint on pruning cuts? The short answer is ‘No’! 15 years ago the answer may have been yes but there has been much research in this period of time which has definitively concluded that it is...
15 February 2021 | Gardening tips
It’s time to begin saving dry seed! What is dry seed? Dry seed is seed that forms on a stalk or in a pod as opposed to wet seed which forms inside a fruit such as a tomato or pumpkin or zucchini. It may be podless such as coriander or dill or lettuce or in a pod...
11 February 2021 | Gardening tips, Nightshades, Planting guides, Tomatoes
Fermenting tomato seed to remove disease The easy way to save tomato seed is to squeeze it onto paper towel and dry it. However any diseases – viruses and pathogens – will be retained in seed dried this way. At Sustainable Macleod, we share seed with the...
10 January 2021 | Fruit trees, Gardening tips |
Defeating pear and cherry slug A close inspection of pear and cherry trees at this time of year, is likely to reveal small, black slimy slugs on almost every leaf. The pear and cherry slug munches its way through the green chlorophyll of the leaves, leaving behind a...
