Hi Nicola, Thanks for choosing us, and good luck with your first microgreen growing experience! Yes you can grow them in a small pot indoors, they are generally grown indoors. You can learn generally about how to get started with microgreens here: https://www.littlegreengrowers.ie/post/how-to-grow-microgreens For onion microgreens surface sow them over the soil so they cover it without touching each other, to sprout densely, like grass! You don't need to soak them before sowing. Cover them with another tray, or a plate to keep the light out and weight on them for about 3 days until you see they are sprouting. Then remove the cover. Keep moist but once they've sprouted, bottom water the tray so as to minimise chance of fungus. They will be ready to harvest in about 2-3 weeks. You might even get a second harvest as they can regrow from the roots left behind. Happy growing!

Hi Mary, thanks for your question! It depends on what your needs are, when you plan to use it most, where it is positioned - it’s really a matter of choice. Thicker polycarbonate like the 10mm will trap more heat, keeping the tunnel warmer in winter, reducing heat loss if you plan go heat the space. It will also be stronger in the face of winds or snow load. On the other hand, it will be a bit harder to shape into position when making your Polytunnel. It will also be warmer in summer, so ample ventilation will be needed and possibly shade cloth if the tunnel is in full sun all day. Bear in mind that even thinner wall polytunnels can reach more than 40C on sunny summer days! Hope that helps you make your decision! Little Green Growers

Maincrop potatoes can take 18-25 weeks to mature. This usually means if you sow in April they should be ready for harvesting from late August to October depending on variety, growing conditions etc. If you want to leave some in the ground rather than harvesting all of them at once, you can do this however a hard frost will damage them and the longer you leave them in the ground the more likely it is that something else will decide to have a nibble. They also are more prone to rot in wet autumn weather and/or might decide to sprout. Since they're starting to flower this is a good sign that they are heading towards maturity. Wait for them to completely finish flowering, and ideally for the leafs to yellow. Once they turn yellow, cut the leaves off and leave the potatoes in the ground for about 10 days to allow the skin to set for storage. Let the potatoes dry for a few hours before storing them, and enjoy your harvest for many dinners to come!

Beetroot normally take 7-8 weeks to be ready to harvest after planting out. It's better to harvest too early than too late as they can become woody if left too long. You could gently scrape away some soil from the base of the leaves above where the beetroot is developing to check the diameter of the beetroot. Alternatively, just pull one up to see if it's ready, the rest should be a similar size so you'll know whether to leave the longer or not. Harvest when the size of a tennis ball, or harvest smaller for baby beets. . When harvesting, loosen the soil around them and pull by hand. Remove all but half a cm of the leaves, and store in cool dark conditions or in moist sandy soil if not eating right away. You can find a complete growing guide here: https://www.littlegreengrowers.ie/how-to-grow-beetroot

Hi Fiona, how frustrating! There are two parts to the challenge you're facing: 1) Bolting onion sets: Sometimes the fluctuating Irish weather can cause onions (and other plants) to bolt. This is because it fools them into thinking they are further in their life cycle by making them think they have gone through many more seasons than they have actually gone through. Unfortunately once onions bolt, that's the end of their life cycle. You did the right thing by snipping off the flower head, as it stops the plant putting more energy into making seeds. However the bulb itself will not develop any further from this point on so you can harvest it now - don't wait for it to turn brown. Always harvest bolted onions before non-bolted onions to give those that haven't bolted more time to develop. They won't store well so use them up as quickly as you can. In future years, you can try to minimise the chances of this happening by mulching around the onion sets, and keeping well watered (but not waterlogged) so the soil temperature stays cooler and fluctuates less. Don't cover them with fleece etc since they are a cool weather crop. 2) No onion bulb formed: there can be a few reasons for this happening and it can be trickier to pin down why. Space: Onion sets need space to develop into bulbs. Sets that are planted too close together may lack the space to develop bulbs - ideally sets should be 10cm apart. Similarly the bed should have a depth of at least 10cm. If growing in rows make sure they are 25-30cm apart. Another place things can go wrong if the bed is the right depth but the onion sets are planted too deep within it. Nutrients: If the soil is very high in nitrogen/if a lot of plant food has been added, this can cause the leaves to develop at expense of the bulbs being formed. Water: Onion sets need regular water to develop. Ireland can be deceptive in sometimes giving the impression there is a lot of rain but then following that up with periods that are not necessarily very warm but might be dry, reducing the water available to onions so they can develop. Soil: Onion sets need a loose well draining fertile soil to develop. If the soil is compacted, rocky or heavy clay soil they may struggle to form bulbs. Ph balance: It the Ph of the soil is off, onion bulbs won't form. Weeds: Onion sets should be kept well weeded so they don't compete for nutrients - I doubt this is your particular issue though! Pests: You didn't mention seeing any pests so unlikely to be the case, but these can sometimes attack developing bulbs. Temperature: While unlikely to stop bulbs forming, fluctuating temps may affect bulb size as the bulb starts to swell when consistently warmer temperatures arrive. Time: Sets planted in October should be ready from July onwards to early autumn depending on when they were planted and local conditions. The sets shrink first to put energy into developing leaves, and then when the ground starts warming they swell again to develop bulbs. Be sure not to harvest too early - the challenge is to prevent bolting before the bulb is fully developed.

Sure! Keeping the soil temperature cool is key. You can add a thick mulch on the soil to keep it cool and moist even in warm weather. Ensure it's well watered in warm weather. You can also try to plant it somewhere that it doesn't receive quite as direct a blast of sunlight on vey hot days, or provide shade cover on hot days. Broccoli is tricky as it requires a long period to develop, but the fluctuations of Irish weather make it hard to protect during that time!

The plants with flowers on them are bolting - this is when the plant goes to flower and seed earlier than desired. It can be caused by fluctuations in hot and cold weather (particularly an issue in Ireland!), dry spells and other factors which stress the plant and prompt it to end its life cycle. Once plants bolt, the hope of vegetables from it is over, however depending on the plant you may still be able to harvest the leaves and flowers. In terms of what these plants might be, it can be a little hard to tell from photos however: Photo 1: Most likely broccoli... Photo 2: Possibly radish? Would have a spicy taste like salad rocket. Pull one to see if you have a radish underneath - best to harvest before too woody! Looks like its about to bolt too - pull off the flower buds! If it is radish and developed, best to harvest the lot before they all bolt. Photo 3: Hard to see from the photo but possibly another bolting brassica Photo 4 : with the white flowers is salad rocket. You can keep eating the leaves and flowers, to use up the plant as it's at the end of its cycle.

Jerusalem artichokes are fairly vigorous plants so I would expect them still to come up at some stage. It has been unusually chilly for May, so this might be why they are delayed germinating (although they can tolerate cold quite well, it won't damage them). They should be planted in loose, well aerated, well-draining soil so worth double checking they have the right conditions to grow in. It’s also worth checking that something hasn’t been secretly eating the stalks as they come up before they establish (e.g. slugs, rabbits or other wildlife). You could try unearthing one of them just to see what’s going on and check for signs for rot from all the rain we’ve been having, or pest damage. Happy growing!

Hi Orla, You've identified the reason they bolted - turnip plants are prone to bolt when they experience rapid heat/drought and cool temperatures in quick succession. You can pick the flower before it opens and cook in a similar way to rapini (broccoli raab). If you're luck you might get a few rounds of flower bud to eat. As for growing turnips from the plant - once it bolts you're out of luck, best to sow or plant again. Happy growing!

Both are very fast growing vegetables in the right conditions! Beetroot: Beetroot is usually ready around 3 months after planting. Baby beets harvested at a smaller size are sweeter, but the typical size beetroots are harvested at 3 cm - 7cm diameter. It's better to harvest early rather than late since when beetroot gets too big it can become dry and woody. To figure out if they are ready to harvest, clear away a little bit of soil from the crown and check what the diameter is. Radish: Radish can be ready in just over a month if the conditions are right! The easiest way to check if they are ready is to pull one :) About 2-3cm diameter is a good size.

Thanks for reaching out! If you are planning a no dig garden yes you will need organic compost to build up a ‘bed’. February is still a little early for most seeds as it’s still quite dark and there is a risk of frost plus cold temperatures each night. But if your glasshouse is heated and you fleece the seedlings inside it you can get away with sowing earlier. If not, best to wait until March for most seeds. If you are sowing early, you can sow seeds which need a long growing period such as tomatoes. For fast producing seeds like salads, beetroot, radish etc there’s not a lot to be gained by sowing early and you’ll have a lot of work minding them. Different types of seeds have different sowing times and different advice on when it’s safe to plant them out. A general rule of thumb is to plant out after the last frosts in your area (mid-April for most of Ireland). You only need netting if you want to keep birds or certain pests off plants e.g. it is good for protection against carrot fly on carrots.

The best non-harmful approach to blight is less of a instant fix:  prevention in advance, by using certified seed potatoes, choosing blight resistant varieties, crop rotation (Sarpo varieties most resistant), sowing as early as possible, bottom watering, allowing good airflow by planting in direction of wind etc. We don’t use any sprays at all, I believe even copper sprays are being phased out of organic growing. If blight strikes they can remove and destroy affected leaves and earth up the tubers to protect them, harvesting as early as possible. Any other tips for Catherine?

Its good that you were rotating the crops (ideally potatoes should only be grown in the same spot every 3-4 years), but you might be right about soil depletion as potatoes are very heavy feeders. Also is the soil was left bare at any stage after harvesting, rain and sun will deplete the nutrients further - in this case weeds are actually better than bare soil:) Digging also destroys the soil structure and leads to nutrient loss, so converting to ’no dig’ gardening methods, and putting in cover crops each winter might be an idea too.  There are places you can send soil away for testing if you’d like, but looking at what weeds did spring up is another way to identify deficiencies e.g. clover indicates low nitrogen, creeping buttercup may indicate soil compaction, dock leaves may indicate low calcium and high magnesium, potassium, phosphorus. Living locally ourselves, we’ve found through soil testing that land which has had cattle on it previously (even if many years ago) tends to have nutrient imbalances.  Adding a thick layer of well rotted organic horse manure or compost (bought or homemade) should give the soil a good boost and provide nutrients for the potatoes, and putting a mulch on top will also minimise weeds and replenish the soil over time.  There are also organic plant foods you can buy which are concentrated versions of seaweed to condition the soil quickly. We do have a new product, Hexafrass which we are excited to try ourselves this year, it’s pre-charged with microbial colonies that slowly release nitrogen over time. Do you have any tips to share with Padraic & Bridie?