10 of the best fruit and vegetables to plant now for a hassle-free harvest

If you long for freshly picked produce but don’t know where to start, try these sure-fire winners

At this time of the year, gardeners are susceptible to the lure of colourful, quirky veg catalogues. But hold fire! A little restraint is our friend. By focusing on reliability, yield and flavour over exotic looks, we are likely to have an easier and more successful year on the plot.

The following fruit and veg should produce hassle-free harvests. They may not look like the most exciting crops, but they will result in more food on your plate, having been tried and taste-tested for a high chance of success and good flavour. Their reliability and resistance to problems makes them easier to grow, and they’re also simple to harvest and prepare, so you’ll be left with more time to enjoy eating them.

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* This article was originally published here

Hotel decorators spill their bedroom secrets

Top designers offer tips on bedding, furnishings and accents to help you upgrade your sleeping space.

* This article was originally published here

* This article was originally published here

Hotel decorators spill their bedroom secrets

Top designers offer tips on bedding, furnishings and accents to help you upgrade your sleeping space.

* This article was originally published here

‘Cheap as chips and save backache’: gardening pros on the tools they can’t live without

Getting your garden ready for spring? We asked the experts for their go-to kit, from secateurs and soil knives to trousers with enough pockets for twine

• How to make your garden tools last longer

In my garden, the celandines are popping, the blackthorn buds are breaking, and the bees are beginning to bumble. These, to my mind, are all solid seasonal omens, and I for one can feel my sap beginning to rise: time to venture outside.

Though undoubtedly there are cold, damp and dreary days still to come, the spring starting pistol has been fired and months of good gardening now lie ahead. There are seeds to sow, shrubs to prune and perennials to chop back and divide. In all tasks, however, being well equipped makes every bit of difference to the experience, so here are some dependable, tried and tested – and in many cases beloved – tools recommended by professionals, from head gardeners and growers to producers of vegetables and cut flowers.

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* This article was originally published here

Ask a Vet: These household items could kill your pet

What to know about some of the most common — and deadly — indoor household toxins.

* This article was originally published here

Our back yard harvest has been getting harder each summer, so this time I tried something new

Welcoming a family of wattlebirds into his Melbourne garden helped deter Andrew Herrick’s less amiable avian visitors – it’s a service he’s happy to pay for in apricots

There is an insect circus in our sink.

My wife is in the kitchen preparing our homegrown apricots for drying. But there are grubs, lots of them, dropping from the fruit into the sink, then leaping like acrobats from one bowl to the other and back again.

Continue reading...

* This article was originally published here

* This article was originally published here

Our back yard harvest has been getting harder each summer, so this time I tried something new

Welcoming a family of wattlebirds into his Melbourne garden helped deter Andrew Herrick’s less amiable avian visitors – it’s a service he’s happy to pay for in apricots

There is an insect circus in our sink.

My wife is in the kitchen preparing our homegrown apricots for drying. But there are grubs, lots of them, dropping from the fruit into the sink, then leaping like acrobats from one bowl to the other and back again.

Continue reading...

* This article was originally published here