Hi Alan, One of the people who have allotments on my plot bought 4 different bags of non peat compost and even though normally he is strictly organic he ended up blending every bag he used of non peat with some of my peat before he got what he was after, a seed/potting on mixture. Things he grew in...

We were very lucky and got Xmas down by the beach at Croyde in North Devon. 5 days of bliss - priceless Before we retired, we always looked forward to the Christmas break, even though it usually involved lots of travelling to look after elderly relatives. It seem to come just at the right time when...

We finished our stollen loaf off after Christmas lunch, instead of opting for Christmas pudding. Heated in the microwave with a splash of brandy and some cream it was lighter and more digestible than pudding.

I have mixed feelings about this because I've tried peat free compost on occasions in the past and have been very disssatisfied with some of the results, especially for germinating seedlings. I don't know whether there's a Kite standard or similar for compost but some of it is distinctly dodgy. Even...

Our street is like a skating rink and even the gritted roads have an icy sheen in places. It felt very Christmasssey walking back down a little footpath covered in thick snow with our torches after the midnight service hanging onto each other for dear life. Unfortunately there was thick ice undernea...

Bitterly cold here this morning but lovely sunshine somewhere!. Unfortunately our entire back garden is in shade and not benefitting from it, thanks to the low sun being blocked by nearby neighbour's huge wide Lleydandi which hides the sun for a large part of the day at this time of year. I can't te...

lizzie - perhaps that why your dad bought her marzipan stuff. He knew it was the only way any treats would be kept out of the thieving hands of children !! In our house it's always the Coffee Cremes that are left in any chocolate box as I can't stand them. My favourite gift box of chocolates would p...

[quote="Primrose"]I've got four wine bottles of grape juice made from this autumn's grapes but the flavour isn't particularly wonderful and I'm scratching around for some innovative ways to improve it. /quote] We've found a festive way of using some of this. Mixed with some orange juice, p...

One thing I've learnt about marzipan - i.e. that you can cook it. That never occurred to me, and until my husband made a Stollen/Tea bread recently with marzipan in it, I would have thought that a high temperature would have changed its texture in some way, it doesn't seem to do. Mind you, I prefer ...

If you do this I suspect that you could lose much of the long term benefits of it because if it is already buried up to two spades deep, all the nutritional goodness will leach out and drain even deeper over time, possibly deeper than the roots of some plants will venture. Also, digging manure in cl...

The other useful occasional thing is indoor sprouting seeds, especially if you can buy them in bulk, because they will grow to maturity in 5 or 6 days and are useful for salads and sandwiches when other winter salad stuff may be in a little short supply.

Dear Hollyhock. Don't apologise for your English. It's better than most of the natives seem to speak I think it's better to let your fresh manure rot in a pile for 6 months before spreading it onto the soil because even if you put it on now, it could still damage any young plants or seedlings which ...

Hi Peter, . My car is in Heathrow's long term car park and is likely to remain there for some time to come as I shall not be able to drive for at least a month and maybe more. JB. Johnboy. I think we'd better start passing the hat round now for a collection for you to pay your Heathrow car parking ...

Elle - so sorry about your brother. It's particularly rough on you all happening just before Christmas and I imagine however hard you try to be cheerful for your children, Christmas day will be sad for you and all his family, especially with a funeral to have to contend with.

Nobody is venturing in or out of our road. I think everybody has pulled up the drawbridge round here. I've been out three times this morning clearing snow off the bird table and trying to clear a patch under some shrubs where the birds can come and feed. They're really struggling to try and take off...