Well, I'm a bit late getting to this thread (or any for that matter), but like Piglet and Peter, we've once again had a great Crown Prince crop. Three plants produced 11 fully-matured fruits. You beat us by one, Piglet! But there's more... We also grew Buttercup. Lakeview reminded me of this variety...

How exciting taralastair, off to NZ! Do you know which bit yet? Yes, I am a Kiwi - came to UK in 1998. From Auckland, so what follows applies to the North Island more than the South. Colder in the south. You won't know yourself gardening in NZ. You will be able to grow loads of things outside withou...

Hello Grock, I grow loads of basil purely to make pesto with and this is the recipe I use. I make a freezing in ice cube trays, then put into bags once frozen. Into a food processor place about: 2 packed cups of basil leaves 1 large clove garlic, peeled and sliced 3/4 cup good quality olive oil 1/4 ...

Hello yummyveggies Interesting. I didn't think this phenomenon occurred in the UK. What you describe is exactly what bees do in parts of NZ, but only to beans with red flowers. I lived in Auckland and this occurence depended on which part of Auckland you lived in. Most people grow beans with white f...

Well, we are ruthless re flavour and keeping qualities. To date, nothing has surpassed Crown Prince for flavour or storage time. This variety is the gold standard for us. I have eaten Buttercups (flavour surpasses CP in a good year), but only growing Buttercups for the first time this year. Having h...

Not where you are at with these now taralastair, but buttercups should be dark green - with white, streaky stripes. If you harvest too early, they will not be at their full flavour potential and could be somewhat disappointing. All depends what you are comparing against, though. Allan, I have never ...

Hello Maz - the only difference with yellow courgettes will be that of course you won't get the green bits. If that doesn't matter to you, then they should be just fine. This bread freezes well, but then I have not frozen a loaf. Just the rolls and the 'break & share' method in the recipe. These...

Just normal granulated sugar, amo. The apples and lemon juice supply plenty of pectin and it sets very well.

Hello Colin

They are from Mr Fothergill's.

Hello Compo & Zena - yes, quite remiss of me not to post the recipe at the time. Have done so now though. See 'Recipes'. I freeze loads of it at this time of year, to last over the winter. Enjoy!

As requested. What follows is the original recipe - I have made notes on my own variation/s at the end. Courgette Crown Bread Serves 8 450g (1lb) courgettes, coarsley grated salt 500g/1 1/4lbs/5 cups plain flour 2 sachets fast-action yeast 60g/4 tbsp Parmesan cheese, freshly grated Ground black pepp...

Hmm...it's a funny old thing that. Every year we grow tomatoes in the greenhouse and outside too. In all cases, the tomatoes outside are more intensely flavoured than those in the greenhouse. Still good taste from inside and if we didn't grow some outside too, we would not have noticed this. It is p...

Hello Colin We've grown White Lady for the first time this year and have been very impressed! It is growing alongside Streamline and an un-named (red-flowering) variety, we were given. In recent years we have grown Painted Lady, Red Rum, Galaxy, Armstrong, Mergoles and Best of All. White Lady surpas...

Hello Amo - here's the recipe you were after. Sorry about taking so long to get it down. I used ordinary apples (but growing wild) and it worked out just fine. Elderberry and Apple Jelly 2lb (1kg) elderberries 1 1/4 pt (1L) water 1lb (450g) crab or sour apples Juice of one lemon Sugar - 1lb to every...

Hmmm... not sure it's original, but I get rid of our excess courgettes by making bread with them. Courgette Crown Bread is not only delicious, but uses 450g for each batch, is freezable (is that a word?) and impresses guests when brought out warm from the oven to accompany soups (homemade, of course...