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Welcome to our web site nursery news
On these pages we update what is going on at the nursery, what we have for sale and keep you up to date on the seasons growing with monthly hints and tips.
For updates on the shows and dates for 2024 see News about our Shows.
If trying trying ‘Grow your Own’ for the first time, don’t be put off by a failure. As we have always said, each year is different, so never be put off by a bad years results. There is always next year, gardeners are optimists. There is always our facebook page to check for daily updates and each monthly mail shots for more information on growing month by month.
There is a Chinese saying which says:
To be happy for a short time; get drunk, happy for a long time; fall in love, happy forever; take up gardening.
Nature is unstoppable.
As always the nursery is open for the collection of all your vegetable plants as the seasons progress.
All our plants are grown using John Innes compost which is loam based. We use biomass boilers to heat all our glasshouses and use predator’s or a natural spray to control unwanted garden pests rather than a chemical spray.
We are committed to following the advice from the experts to deliver the highest standards of safety and hygiene for our staff and customers.
We regret we cannot send any plants to Northern Ireland or the EU.
Available now at the nursery we have
Vegetable plants including
Winter cropping leeks,
Savoy and Spring Cabbage, Purple Sprouting Broccoli,
All types of Kale and Brussels Sprouts for winter use.
Spinach, Chard, and Lettuce.
Our full range of seeds
Autumn planting Onion Sets – 7 varieties available
both golden and red skinned, one to suit every taste.
Autumn planting Garlic. 5 varieties to chose from including Elephant garlic.
September nursery opening times
Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY – CLOSED
Jobs in the garden for September here in the UK
Dear Gardeners,
September is here, and there’s plenty to be done while you’re outside enjoying the last of the year’s warmth.. Harvesting crops keeps the gardener busy this month. However there are some vegetables which can be sown now for overwintering. Most of these will mature next spring, giving you valuable harvests at a time of year when not much else is cropping.
Jobs for September:
Now is the time to lift and put into store all onions. Remove the onion tops as soon as they are lifted, this helps them to dry well and store better. Squashes can be cut and stored for use over the winter months, make sure the skins are hard before putting them into store. Root crops for winter storage are not ready for harvesting until late September at the earliest. Dig potatoes, don’t wash them just let them dry naturally and store in dark conditions, they will keep much better.
Sow winter lettuce such as Winter Density or Marvel of 4 Seasons and Arctic King, winter hardy spring onions, perpetual spinach, chard, kohl rabi, turnip, radish, as well as all the oriental salads (rocket, pak choi, oriental salads, etc).
Spring Cabbage can now be transplanted into the final position.
The autumn planting onion sets and garlic are now available; these are best planted during September, October and November as long as the weather holds out. As some types of vegetables may be in short supply again this year, take the opportunity to make use of any spare ground over winter. We have many different varieties to choose from. Check the website for details.
Garlic needs a chilling period so is best planted in late autumn or early winter. However some cultivars can be planted in early spring. On heavy, wet soils, you can start them off in modules in a cold frame before planting out in spring. Plant individual cloves so the tips are 2.5cm (1in) below the soil surface. Space 15cm (6in) apart and in rows 30cm (12in) apart.
Rhubarb crowns are best planted when dormant between late autumn and spring. Prepare the ground by digging in two bucketfuls per square metre of well-rotted manure, and then spread out the roots and plant so the tip of the crown is just visible above the soil. We have several varieties to choose from, some will mature at different times giving continuity of cropping.
Green manures
As soon as you have harvested and cleared a bed if the ground is not needed for replanting for winter consider sowing a green manure crop.
Soil should not be left bare for prolonged periods. In nature you will never find bare soil unless it has turned into a desert. After a fire plants such as rosebay willowherb will quickly recolonise the ground. Bare soil is bad for the soil structure, the soil life and it will quickly lose its nutrients, so anytime your beds are empty and you don’t have or need any follow on crops, sow a green manure crop. All you do is to prepare a nice weed free seed bed and sprinkle green manure seeds at the recommended seed rate onto the beds and rake in.
A favourite summer green manure is phacelia. The German name for this plant is ‘Bee’s Friend’. It’s a fantastic and very pretty plant that attracts a host of beneficial insect including hoverflies, lacewings, beetles and obviously bees.
The purpose of a summer green manure is to quickly cover the soil and the growing plant will absorb and use the available nutrients that are still in the soil and preventing them from being washed out. A green manure should ideally be dug into the soil just before flowering, but with phacelia you can make an exception and let it flower. It will be slightly less beneficial for the soil but absolutely fantastic for wildlife. Studies have shown a massive increase of carabid beetle populations under a phacelia crop and these beetles eat slugs! Phacelia can self seed when left to flower.
If this is too invasive try our Overwinter Mix, this is grazing rye and vetch giving a nitrogen fix which can be left over winter and dug in from March.
Aphids and Whitefly can still be a problem especially in a warm early September or in a tunnel. Watch out for ladybirds or hoverflies as they may already control them. If aphids are a big problem they can be sprayed with pyrethrum or soft soap, but both sprays will also harm ladybirds. Aphids can also be washed off plants with a strong jet of water. Whilst wasps are not a favourite insect they also will help control aphids. Keep checking your brassicas for caterpillars’ as there are still a few Cabbage White butterfly around.
Our new 2025 catalogue will be available later in the month; all customers should receive a copy by post. Or it is available to download from our website. As one season closes the next one starts, new season seeds are now available.
We shall have good stocks of seeds, onion sets and garlic with us at the Malvern Autumn Show on September 27th, 28th and 29th our last show of 2024. We are in the same place as previous years, near the talks theatre in the RHS Floral Marquee.
The nursery is now closed to visitors at weekends but still open from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday for plants and seeds.
Good gardening, whatever the weather.
The Robinson’s
W Robinson & Son (Seeds and Plants) Ltd
‘The Home of the Mammoth Onion’
Sunny Bank, Forton, Preston
PR3 0BN
01524791210
www.mammothonion.co.uk
e: [email protected]
facebook.com/mammothvegetables
A pest solution.
Now that conditions are correct for planting leafy vegetables slugs can be a problem. Use this simple garlic repellent to deter garden pests like aphids and slugs. It can also help eliminate powdery mildew on foliage.
Peel the cloves from a whole head of garlic and put in a food processor or blender with 235 ml of water. Purée the mixture (this takes about a minute in a regular food processor). Alternatively, chop or crush the cloves as finely as you can by hand and mix well with the water.
Add a further 700ml of water to the mix, along with 30ml of any liquid soap. Blend again and then transfer to a clean jar.
Leave the mixture to steep overnight, or for at least 12 hours, so that the garlic can infuse the liquid with its potent sulphur compounds.
Once the mixture has had time to steep, strain it through a muslin cloth or fine mesh strainer to remove the solid garlic pieces (which would otherwise clog the nozzle on your spray bottle).
Pour the garlic-infused liquid into a reusable spray bottle and store in the fridge between uses.
Mist plants in the evening, holding the spray about 15-30cm away from the foliage, and cover both sides of the leaves with an even coating of the garlic pesticide spray. Re-apply every few days (and after any rainfall) when your plants are suffering with an infestation, or once a week as a deterrent.
Garlic has a reputation for warding off vampires but it’s also effective against smaller blood-sucking creatures such as mosquitoes.
Add two-three crushed fresh garlic cloves to a food grade oil such as sunflower oil and leave to infuse for 24 hours.
The following day, add 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice to the mixture, along with 500 ml water.
Strain the garlic, lemon and oil mixture through some muslin cloth or a fine mesh strainer to remove the pieces of garlic.
Transfer to a spray bottle and apply this natural repellent as needed to keep mosquitoes away.
Below is a guide for when to feed vegetables which we hope will be of help.
GENERAL RULES FOR FEEDING VEGETABLES.
All root vegetables….. Never. If the ground is correctly prepared.
Brassica…… Never. If the ground is correctly prepared
Chilli Peppers….. When the fruit has started to set and swell well, never feed too early.
Courgettes, Marrows and Cucumbers…… When first picking starts.
Onions and Leeks……. Never. If the ground is correctly prepared.
Onions and Leeks for exhibition……. Never. If the ground is correctly prepared. However they respond to a feed of Nitrate of Soda if a burst of growth is needed.
Peppers and Aubergines…….. When fruit is golf ball size.
Tomatoes under glass……. When the fruit on the first truss is pea size.
Tomatoes outdoors…….. When the fruit on the second truss is pea size.
NEVER FORGET PLANTS DON’T HAVE TEETH, THEY DO NEED WATER TO TAKE UP THE NUTRIENTS IN THE GROUND! ALWAYS WATER THE GROUND WELL IN HOT DRY CONDITIONS.
W Robinson & Son (Seeds and Plants) Ltd
‘The Home of the Mammoth Onion’
Sunny Bank, Forton, Preston PR3 0BN
01524791210
www.mammothonion.co.uk [email protected]
facebook.com/mammothvegetables