Gardening Resources

Huw Richards
Jul 28, 2024
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Hello and a very warm welcome to my resources page.

This page features what resources and brands I use and trust, acts as a backbone to direct towards my main projects, and I hope that this becomes a very useful reference point for your growing journey.

Huw’s Garden Journal is a reader-supported publication. To receive regular posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Seeds & Varieties

Huw’s go-to variety list

Here is my comprehensive list which covers the staple varieties of crops that give me consistent results year-on-year. If you are a new gardener, or wanting to grow as much food as possible, start here.

Suppliers

Looking for affordable organic seeds? This fantastic company is making that possible for growers.

Save 10% on Kings Seeds and Suffolk Herbs orders with code: HUWR10

My favourite seed companies (in no particular order) are as follows:

  • Real Seeds - Amazing choice of rare and unusual varieties

  • Kings Seeds - My default choice for my staple crops for the last 10 years

  • Tamar Organics - Fantastic range of the highest quality organic seeds

  • Wales Seed Hub - Welsh seed cooperative of excellent growers and varieties

  • She Grows Veg - The new kid on the block with a stunning heirloom range

  • Premier Seeds Direct - The home of quality and affordable seeds for gardeners

  • Baker Creek - US based incredible range, and can ship small quantities to the UK

  • Alma Proust - Stunning flower varieties to grow in your garden

Compost & Soil Health

Learn

For a simple starting guide one how to have healthy soil in your garden, watch this video.

There is no such thing as too much homemade compost. To get started making your own, watch this video.

For my approach to how I garden to grow as much food as possible and create the healthiest soil possible, I have a free mini-course here.

Compost brands

Melcourt - Incredible quality peat-free compost (my go-to)

Dalefoot - Award winning compost made from sheeps wool and bracken

Rocketgro - Doing some really interesting things, one to watch!

Wormcity - Effective and easy to use worm bins

Tools & Watering

Garden tools

I am a brand ambassador for Gardena, who I have been using for all of my hand tools (and hand watering tools) for the last 3 years. With incredible guarantees ranging from 5-25 years on their different ranges, and high-quality German design and manufacturing, their quality is exactly what I need for an enjoyable growing experience.

The essential tools for any garden include a spade, fork, hand trowel, secateurs, hedge shears, rake, knife and a weeding hoe.

Module Trays

I have developed two module trays in collaboration with Containerwise. The HR10 and HR20. I also highly recommend the 40L, 28H, and CD60. The trays are of incredible quality, and will easily last over 10 years if looked after.

Watering infrastructure

The Future Pump is an incredible solar powered water pump perfect for off-grid setups, or reducing dependency on the grid. The smaller pump is suitable for all home gardens, however if you have a homestead then take a look at the larger pump, which you can also use to charge your phone.

Further Learning

Books

I have authored and co-authored 4 books, including one #1 Sunday Times Bestseller. My writing is where I get to put in the most detail, and is the most convenient way of accessing my knowledge. Book 5 is en route, and will be my most detailed and comprehensive one yet.

  1. Veg in One Bed - Learn the key skills. and enjoy harvests every single month

  2. Grow Food for Free - My comprehensive guide to growing food affordably

  3. The Vegetable Grower’s Handbook - A small kitchen garden bible

  4. The Self-Sufficiency Garden (with Sam Cooper) - Growing and using huge amount of food in a small space

  5. Coming soon…

Signed copies are available here.

Online courses

I am currently upgrading my online course offering, with the relaunch planned for August of this year with a new course, followed by subsequent new and updated courses, and a better setup for me being able to much better manage comments. For the time being, my current courses can be found here.

Note - Online course discounts are only available through my substack (and Sam’s). Free subscribers of my journal get 20% off all online courses made by myself and my good friend (and colleague) Sam Cooper. Paid subscribers get 50% off. Founding members get free access to all online courses, including any new ones that come out in the 12 months from subscribing (and subsequent renewals).

In-person courses

I will be running a number of physical courses in 2025 including my 5-day Permaculture Kitchen Gardening course at Henbant Permaculture in North Wales (image below is class of 2024). Key course dates will be provided in my journal newsletter, and on this page. Look out for some joint courses I will be doing with Sam, combing the learning of growing and cooking into one incredible experience.

YouTube channels

I watch very little gardening content, but the following channels provide consistently good growing advice:

  • David the Good

  • Liz Zorab

  • Charles Dowding

  • Self Sufficient Me

  • Grow Veg

What other resources/recommendations/areas have I missed that you like me to cover? Please let me know in a comment!

Disclaimer - Some of the links on this page are affiliate links, meaning I will get commission only on successful sales, at no extra cost to you. This really helps me continue my work with delivering as much free growing content as possible, so thank you!