Nettles and Petals

Nettles and Petals Organic no-dig grower
Permaculture
Foraging
(13)

14/06/2026

Pruning Cucumber Plants 🌱🥒

Cucumbers are a fun summer crop to grow in the vegetable garden, yet vining varieties do require ongoing maintenance to ensure a steady and healthy crop. 😊

Once the plant is between 1 and 2 ft tall I remove any lower leaves that are close to, or are touching the ground, to help prevent issues such as powdery mildew due to water splashing up onto the leaves when watering. I continue to remove yellowing lower leaves as they grow.

Then, I follow the main stem from the base of the plant to where the leaves meet it, this is where the side shoots or suckers grow from this axel which I remove to contain the plant to one manageable main stem - improving productivity and maximising airflow - which reduces the possibility of disease. 😊👍🏻 I remove them all the way up the plant and continue to do so throughout the season. 🍃

The fruit also forms within these axels producing flowers prior to developing fruit behind them once pollinated. Only female flowers produce a miniature fruit behind it though, male flowers have a very thin stem. 🌼

Male flowers are also often removed from greenhouse cucumber varieties to prevent them pollinating the female flowers, which can result in bitter fruit as they then produce a bitter compound called cucurbitacin. However, some varieties have been bred to produce only female flowers and outdoor cucumber varieties can be left to their own devices, so check each variety. 😊

For my greenhouse cucumbers I remove the first 3 or 4 flowers that the plant produces, allowing it to focus on initial growth prior to fruiting, again I leave outdoor ridge varieties to do their thing though. 🌱

The tendrils are used by the plant to climb so leave them on and I train my plants around a twine support as it grows. 👆🏻🌱

They grow very fast and before you know it you’ll have more cucumbers than you know what to do with! 😊🥒

And for more growing tips you can now pick up a copy of my book ‘Nettles and Petals - Grow food, Eat weeds, Save seeds’ in most book stores, or through the link in my bio 😊📗

Are you growing cucumbers this season?

12/06/2026

Can you Re-Plant Tomatoes? 🍅⤵️🌱

Your Questions Answered: Yes you can, and although I grow most of my tomatoes from saved seed, it is fun to grow them from replanting the fruit from time to time, a very low cost way to grow them too! 😊👍🍅

And this is even better if you live in a climate where you can grow tomatoes all year round, so you can pop a tomato of a plant and then straight into a pot!

Because each tomato seed is coated in a germination inhibitor, to save seeds I have to ferment them in water, then dry and store them to grow the following year.

However, if you were to pop half a tomato or a full tomato into some compost and keep watering it, before long that gel inhibitor will break down and they will germinate. 🌱🌱

And you may have noticed plants popping up in your beds the following year from one that just fell to the ground.

If you do grow them this way though they will be very crowded, but that can be easily remedied by adding them to water which will remove most of the soil and enable the roots to pull apart far more easily without breaking them. 🌱🍅

And you want to use an organic non hybridised variety to so this if you want the resulting plant to be true to type. 😊👍

Then, I just put each seedling Into its own pot, nice and deep so they can create a good root system, and plant them out after the last chance of frost.

So would you try replanting a tomato? 😊

10/06/2026

Harvest Lettuce Like This! 🥬

If you grow your own lettuce you’ll know that it can be quite fiddly and time consuming picking individual leaves, this is particularly problematic on a larger scale such as the kitchen or market garden when I’m picking leaves from hundred of plants! 😅🥬

But by simply cupping your hands around the outer leaves and pushing down firmly, they snap back and fall away from the plant, leaving only the central heart of the plant to regrow. 😊👍🥬

I then leave them in the ground for around 10 weeks and harvest between 3-5 leaves from each plant per week, which is a lot of lettuce!

So I hope you found that useful? 😊 and follow along for more tips!

07/06/2026

Pruning Tomato Plants 🍅🌱✂️

Now my tomato plants have had a few weeks to settle in, it’s time to start pruning them! 😊✂️ Pruning helps to grow a more manageable and healthier plant, it increases harvests and in the case of tomatoes, can supply you with lots of new duplicate plants! 😊🙌🏻🍅

Firstly, it is important to determine if the plant actually needs pruning at all!

So, is it an indeterminate vining variety that would be pruned to a single tall stem and trellised to grow upwards almost indefinitely in the right conditions, or a determinate bush variety that can just be left to grow to its determined size, although I would still remove the yellowing lower leaves of even determinate varieties too.

Most seed packs or plant labels should specify, if not, just search the variety online. 😊

If it’s indeterminate, I will begin to prune them 2-3 weeks after planting and I start by removing any lower leaves that are touching the soil and that are therefore more susceptible to issues such as mildew. 😬

Then I prune the side shoots which grow at a 45 degree angle in the axel of the plant between the main stem and the leaves, larger with snips and smaller with fingers. 🌱

I remove them all the way up the plant, but always leave the growing point to continue to grow. 😊👍🏻

The side shoots could then be rooted in water, creating a duplicate of the original plant. 🌱🌱🌱

I then just keep training the plant up the twine support as it grows.

If the plant has developed two main stems, both could be trained up separate supports, or just prune one away and pop it in water as that will create a nice new plant. 😊🌱

So if you’re growing tomatoes I hope that was useful, and let me know which varieties you’re growing this year? 😊🍅

03/06/2026

Seeds to Sow in June - Just Keep Sowing! 🫘🌱😊

The weather this growing season here in the UK has been less than ideal so far! Here in North Yorkshire we’ve late frost, followed by long dry spells and now strong winds and rain for the foreseeable! 😕 and the vegetable garden is suffering a little. 🌱☀️👀

But the season is far from over and there are still plenty of things we can sow in June! 😊🌱

June is a great month to sow some parsnips! They take a while to germinate, so I sow mine between other crops that will finish before the parsnips are big enough to need the space. I will also follow this method when sowing more carrots for a nice crop in autumn. 🥕

If you haven’t already, there’s still time to sow winter squash, just pop the seeds into some compost on their side and before you know it you’ll have a squash plant which you can plant out, producing lots of squash you can store over winter. 🌱

Summer bean varieties can still be sown now too, you can either direct sow them wherever you want them to grow or sow them into a seed tray, plants grow fast and you’ll be pulling pods in no time. 🫘

I also sow another succession of courgettes and cucumbers to prolong harvests as they’re quite short lived crops. Just pop seeds into a pot of compost, this time of the year they will germinate quickly, then just plant them out and harvest. 🥒

I sow lots of kale in June, into seed trays and then transplant them out, for harvests throughout autumn and into winter. 🌿

After the solstice I start to sow Kohlrabi and Fennel again that grow well in early spring and autumn but are prone to bolting if growing in summer.

I continue sowing successions of herbs like basil, coriander and dill throughout June, straight into pots or a growing bed, they grow quickly at this time of the year and are great companions for many other crops. 🌱

And finally I sow some coreopsis for natural dyeing later on in the year. 🌼

So what will you be sowing in June? 😊🌱

31/05/2026

Planting The 3 Sisters! 🌽🫘🌱

The 3 sisters is one of the most well known examples of companion planting, and this ancient Native American agricultural practice is deeply rooted in indigenous tradition. 🌱

The corn grows tall acting as a support for the climbing beans, the beans fix nitrogen in the soil and the squash sprawls along the soil surface, suppressing unwanted plant growth, retaining moisture and preventing erosion. This symbiotic relationship illustrates the indigenous principle of biodiversity and mutual support amongst plants. 🫘🌽🌱🌼🐝

I grow them outside here in the Uk which can be a little hit and miss due to having cool short summers, yet it was so hot and dry last year they thrived. ☀️🌽

I plant my corn and squash after the last chance of frost in circles or rows and wait until the corn is about 6-8 inches tall, before direct sowing climbing bean seeds around the base of the stalks. 🫘

They quickly germinate and begin to climb as the squash produces flowers that develop into fruit.The corn is now sending up tassels which blow in the wind, dropping pollen onto the ears below which will grow into cobs full of sweet kernels. 🌽👍

I also plant them inside the poly tunnel just in case they don’t amount to much outside. I plant my corn in rows, but in here I opted for dwarf French beans and smaller varieties of squash, as I have other plants such as chillis and peppers growing in the same space. 🌶️🌽🌼

I’m growing compact varieties of corn and squash in this in pots, but I decided to try a variety of beans called yard long, which have been fun to grow. 🪴🫘

And every time I use this ancient Native American technique, I am reminded that we need to look back to move forward, returning to the wisdom of indigenous growing methods to overcome the environmental challenges we now face due to industrialised chemical based agricultural.

So have you tried this method before? 😊🌽

29/05/2026

Growing Nettles in Pots! 🌿🪴

Although not a plant most would choose to grow in pots in the vegetable garden, nettles are actually have many uses, and are one of the best companions you can grow for crops such as tomatoes! 😊🪴🍅

They are loved by aphids! So I use them as trap crops to draw aphids away from other susceptible crops, and where there are aphids, ladybirds and other insects that predate on them will follow, so this helps to build up the beneficial insects around the garden and protect your other plants and crops! 😊👍🥒🍅🌿🌼

Not only that, but they are packed with nutrition so I harvest some to consume myself, but also to make nettle tea fertiliser and to chop and drop them in the garden beds.

Then because they are in pots I move them away from my garden beds when the begin to set seed to avoid them spreading! But will harvest some to eat, and to sow in pots for the following season. 🌿♻️

So will you give nettles a grow? 😊

27/05/2026

Re-plant Leeks and Never Buy Seed Again!🌱🐝

I really enjoy growing Leeks in the vegetable garden as they are more than just an edible crops! 😊🌱

They are biennial, so in their first year they produce the leek that we eat but in their second year they produce ornamental Pom Pom like flower heads that are loved by pollinators and are one of the main reasons I grow them. 🌱🐝

I sow my leeks from seed and then once they grow into young plants I transplant them out, nice and deep, so that they end up with a blanched stem.

They grow on into mature plants and I eat them throughout their season, but I always leave some in the ground to overwinter which will then flower in their second year.

I’ll sometimes then move them to areas around the garden where I want to utilise their ornamental flowers and pollinator magnetism. 🌸🐝

The flowers then turn to seed heads, each pod containing around 4 seeds and when they turn black they are more or less viable seeds.

So I save them until the following season and then sow the seeds and the whole process starts again! 😊👍🏻🌱

So will you be leaving some leeks in the ground to flower this season?

24/05/2026

May Kitchen Garden Harvest! 👨🏼‍🌾🥗

It’s been an unpredictable start to the growing season, frost then a heat wave one week apart 😅 but the kitchen garden is filling up fast and watering is just about a full time job! 😅💦🌱 so here’s what I’ve been harvesting this month:

Carrots 🥕
Kale 🌱
Chard 🌿
Leeks
Mixed lettuce 🥬
Garlic scapes (flower stem of hard-neck garlic) 🧄
Radish
Nasturtium leaves and flowers 🌸
Fennel tops
And Strawberries! 🍓😋

So what have you been harvesting in May? 😊

22/05/2026

Grow Edible Garden Flowers 🌼🌸😋

I grow and companion plant as many flowers in the vegetable garden as possible, as they offer so many benefits such as pest reduction and increased yields due to pollination. 🌼

However, my favourites are always multifunctional flowers that are beneficial, beautiful and also edible! 😋🌼🐝

Nasturtium: All parts of the nasturtium are edible. They produce flowers in a myriad of colours, which brighten up any dish and the leaves are great in salads. 🌸🥗

I also use them to create borders and barriers all around the garden, utilising them as a sacrificial crop drawing pests away from other plants such as brassicas. 🥦🐛

Borage: Otherwise known as starflower, Borage’s bright blue flowers are loved by many pollinators and beneficial insects and you can almost always find a ladybird clambering around its spiky stems, often using them to lay eggs. ⭐️🌸

They have many medicinal benefits too and have a taste quite similar to cucumber. 🥒

Sweet Alyssum: My favourite thing about Sweet alyssum is its honey-like scent. 🐝🍯

I use it as a companion for many other plants as it creates a low growing carpet of edible dainty white flowers that draw in predatory insects such as parasitic wasps, ladybirds and hoverflies that help keep pests in check.

Violas: Another low growing little flower that I use to add colour to borders and pots around the garden. They are a great addition to both savoury and sweet dishes alike. 🌸🌼

Marigolds: Definitely my most utilised edible flower, when it comes to companion planting. I plant marigolds with many of my vegetable crops such as: tomatoes, chillis, aubergines and lettuce. 🍅🥬🌶️🫑🌼

They help to deter pests and attract beneficial insects and they are also one of the easiest flowers to save seed from.

Calendula: I,ve already posted about calendula’s many uses, but I use it so much I had to include it here too. 🌼

So which edible flowers do you grow? 😊🌱🌼

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