The plastic salad bin - if its transparent - makes a good cloche too. And if there are egg trays you could use them for chitting spuds.

I grow our potatoes in large pots - this years crop of Charlotte has been very disappointing - taste fine but only about 750gr from each 30 -35cm pot instead of the usual 1.25-1.5kg per pot. I might plant up a few more this week in the hope of getting a late season crop if the (promised) summer weat...

Picked up a bag of "Gourmet Merchant" (I think) black, brown, red and white rice. Very very tasty, now we cannot remember where we got it and cannot find a stockist! Typical. . . Cheers, Tony. Have a look at this link, Merchant Gourmet will no doubt be able to advise the nearest stockist ...

How much grass path do you have to maintain? - Is it worth considering a cheap, possibly secondhand rotary petrol mower? (the wheeled type not a Flymo) - and do you have somewhere secure to store it.

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We had bees in the bird nest box last year. They were no trouble and disappeared in about October or November. The box has been cleaned out and repositioned - thus far no bees and no blue tits, but we shall see.

......"Whenever I opened the paper I saw that my pitiful little holdings in various industrial shares had slid still further down the slope. Everything seemed to be cracking up. England was unutterably weary, America was in the throes of a nervous breakdown, Germany had consumption, Italy was s...

Restoring and repairing tools for re-use is what I do for the various community growing projects in Middlesbrough - Links: http://www.menvcity.org.uk/Grown%20in%2 ... brough.htm

http://www.facebook.com/pages/MEC-Urban ... 1077782910

http://www.menvcity.org.uk/Urban%20Farming.htm

Anyone in this area with old or damaged tools that they could donate, please PM me.

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I only grow climbing varieties of French Beans and always start them on damp tissue in mid-late April, until they sprout, then pot up and grow on either in the kitchen or the sheltered cold frame. Plant out no earlier than late May even then sometimes need to wrap the wigwams around with fleece. As ...

I stand corrected! - we do have a newly opened 99p shop here! - called in today and was amazed at the bargain seed packs. The multi-packs mentioned by Shallot Man above and single varieties at 99p for four. All are tried and tested popular varieties, but bargains none the less. Also a good selection...

about 45cm (18") should be OK - I grew some last year against a tall east-facing fence at about that distance with excellent results - and yes they do grow tall mine reached over 3 mtrs (10ft) and required staking.

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I think that you have answered your own question really. - If you have a few seed pots left over, why not offer them to fellow plotholders, neighbours or Freecycle- better tha waste I would say.

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I realise that I am upping the ante a bit, - but we don't have a 99p Shop here - but in Poundland they have some good mixed selections of seed. Their 6 in 1 range - last year we bought the Mediterranean Selection: Aubergine, Tomato, Oregano, Spring Onion, Basil and Rocket - £1. The toms, onion, and ...

Just heard an item on GQT about the Harlequin Ladybird and the survey being undertaken.

Gardeners are invited / requested to take part and record any sightings.

Link: http://www.harlequin-survey.org/


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Just re-visiting this post as I have read a very interesting article about these secateurs on Fred Waldens website - Link:


http://fredshed.co.uk/bigboys.htm

Scroll about half way down the page.

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..........................my favourite: it's a Dutch hoe, sharp enough to slice cheese with (if you so wished).........................the Dutch hoe, by the way, was made by Elwell, a firm long gone. I still have my Elwell fork I bought 40 years ago, lovely well balanced tool. Here is an interestin...