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Starlings on a bird table

Birds add a lot to a garden, but many of our familiar garden birds are in decline and need our help. In this episode I look at how to make your garden into a home for house sparrows, starlings and blackbirds.

If you’re trying to identify the bird song in your garden, then BBC Radio 4 and the Guardian both have a selection of recordings you can listen to online or download. The RSPB is a great source of information about garden birds and wildlife gardening, and if you’re looking for a selection of bird food, including live mealworms, then Wiggly Wigglers have a really good range.

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My book – ‘The Alternative Kitchen Garden: An A To Z‘ – is out now in the UK. Follow the link for reviews, interviews and more. You can order a copy online from the Green Shopping Catalogue or via Amazon UK – both of which will ship internationally.

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This episode takes a look at what Permaculture is, and some of the basic tools and concepts we can use to make permaculture gardens. Permaculture has been mentioned before on the show – The RISC Roof Garden is an example of the permaculture Forest Garden, and comfrey is known as the permaculture plant.

In this episode we look at layers, zones, forest gardens, herb spirals and sheet mulch gardens, and you can find more about all of these in my permaculture basics Squidoo lens.

I’m also giving away a copy of the new second edition of Permaculture – A Beginner’s Guide by Graham Burnett. To be in with a chance of winning, send me your thoughts on permaculture – ideas, photos, drawings, poems, articles or anything else – by the end of October. If I get enough entries I’ll put them all on show somewhere, and Pete and I will pick our favourite to be the winner.

And show listener Teresa recommends tuning in to the October 10th episode of Science Friday, which is about fall gardening and composting.

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter.

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Comfrey liquid fertilizer

This episode looks at feeding plants in the garden: macronutrients and micronutrients, solid and liquid fertilizers, high/ medium/ low fertility soil improvers – what’s it all about?

We’ve covered composting several times in previous shows (see also episode 26 on worm composting, 32 for leaf mould and 60 for cold composting), as well as using comfrey, urine and green manures.

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My book – ‘The Alternative Kitchen Garden: An A To Z‘ – is out now in the UK. Follow the link for reviews, interviews and more. You can order a copy online from the Green Shopping Catalogue or via Amazon UK – both of which will ship internationally.

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Soft fruit in trug

I have been harvesting the soft fruit, dealing with pests, taking down the fruit cage and feeding the fruit plants. And if you’d like to win a copy of The Little Book of Compost, check out my Great Gardening Book Giveaway.

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My book – ‘The Alternative Kitchen Garden: An A To Z‘ – is out now in the UK. Follow the link for reviews, interviews and more. You can order a copy online from the Green Shopping Catalogue or via Amazon UK – both of which will ship internationally.

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Barley straw pad

I have been dealing with the blanketweed in the ponds in the Grow Dome, and staking the tomatillos.

My book – ‘The Alternative Kitchen Garden: An A To Z’ – is printed and has an official UK publication date of 17th August 2009. You can pre-order a copy from Amazon, but if you can’t wait then order it direct from the publisher via the Green Shopping Catalogue.

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter.

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The Alternative Kitchen Garden is a free and ad-free podcast, but if you’d like to support the show and save money then check out the AVIS coupon available in association with my other podcast – the Emma and Pete Show.

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My garlic harvest

The Big Green Gathering was cancelled, and instead I have been sowing salad seeds and trying to get things under control in the Grow Dome. My book – ‘The Alternative Kitchen Garden: An A To Z’ – is printed and has an official UK publication date of 17th August 2009. You can pre-order a copy from Amazon, but if you can’t wait then order it direct from the publisher via the Green Shopping Catalogue.

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter.

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The Alternative Kitchen Garden is a free and ad-free podcast, but if you’d like to support the show and save money then check out the CCS coupon available in association with my other podcast – the Emma and Pete Show.

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The composting yard at Kew

I have a rant about plastic, because it’s impossible to keep it out of the compost heap.

My book – ‘The Alternative Kitchen Garden: An A To Z’ – is at the printers and has a UK official publication date of 17th August 2009. You can even pre-order a copy from Amazon if you can’t wait.

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter.

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A balcony garden in need of some crops

In this episode, Isabel from Fennel and Fern tells you everything you need to know about growing food on balconies, and you can download her list of suggested balcony crops. Visit her blog to check out her instructions on making pots out of newspaper and also decorating pots with newspaper.

There’s also exciting news about my book – ‘The Alternative Kitchen Garden: An A To Z’ is at the printers and has a UK official publication date of 17th August 2009. You can even pre-order a copy from Amazon if you can’t wait.

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can get real time updates from the AKG on Twitter.

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The Alternative Kitchen Garden is a free and ad-free podcast, but if you’d like to support the show and save money then check out the Petmeds coupon available in association with my other podcast – the Emma and Pete Show.

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Chickens make a real difference in a garden, eating pests and weeds, providing fertilizer and laying eggs. They can also be destructive, eating things you didn’t want eating and scratching around.

Ours live in a fancy eglu chicken house, made by Omlet and available here in the UK and in the US.

Pictures of my chickens in 2006 and 2007 are available on Flickr.

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can also download a PDF transcript of this show.

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A cold frame is a handy thing to have – it’s a cheap and very environmentally friendly way of extending your growing season and providing your plants with some protection.

Cold frames are just one method of extending the season – check out Eliot Coleman’s book Four Season Harvest for more information on cold frames and other methods of protected cropping.

This episode also contains an email from a listener who has some information to add to episode 55 on peppers, and a reminder that my bookazine is being published this week.

Leave me a comment, send me an email or join our Facebook group. You can also download a PDF transcript of this show.