I recently bought a hand blender thingy and there's a really easy mayonnaise recipe in the instruction manual. 200mls oil ( i use sunflower oil for a lighter taste. Olive oil makes it yellow and gives a bit of a 'tang' to it that I don't like) 1 egg 1 tablespoon of lemon juice salt and pepper to tas...

Hello All I know that you shouldn't keep seeds from an F1 hybrid as the resulting plants are not always true to form but..... if you do, are the results okay to eat? Last year I grew 'patty pans' (yellow flying saucers) and kept the seeds from one of the fruits to see what would happen (I'm a bit of...

While we're on the subject of tulips, last year I planted around a dozen red ones at the front of my home. I've lived there for 15 years and have never planted tulips in there before. Now, last year they came up and were a beautiful vibrant red colour. This year they have come up and it seems that t...

Thanks to everyone for their replies. I think that what my allotment neighbour has is also a cardoon and not an artichoke. I took a picture of it last year (when it had fallen over and was lying on the ground) and it does look like the cardoon flower not the artichoke. http://www.lisa.miles.btintern...

My neighbour (at home) has what he calls a Cardoon in his garden. HUGE thing, grows every year and has lovely large globe thistle like purple flowers (doesn't eat it, just has it as a decorative plant). Now, my allotment neighbour has something that I think looks exactly the same (and had the purple...

Hi Vivie

You used to be able to get a weather chart from the BBC weather website showing the 'average' for a particular area but I can't seem to find them anymore?

Try the met office at http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/. They may be able to help.

It's not just men that are hoarders. I must admit to being one myself . My friends call me the 'extreme recycler'. I hate to throw anything away that someone else may be able to use, but then again I find alternative uses for the most strangest of things. If world war three breaks out, many of my fr...

My attitude to Organic growing?? If you've tried everything else to no avail.... Zap it with the bug gun! By the way Compo, I'm sorry you've had such a hard time on the Forum. It's funny how some people can be so aggressive, sarcastic and downright rude when they're hiding behind a keyboard and yet ...

Thanks Tigger. Unfortunately the Lidl's and Aldi's here didn't have them. The 'specials' are sometimes regional. I've found a 'temporary'type polytunnel from a place called the Cyber Checkout in Stevenage (Hertfordshire) m but it's £65 and I'm not sure if it's up to the job. I've had a look at vario...

I grew sweetcorn on my allotment last year (had only just taken it on so put in a block of 9 plants) but had the whole lot eaten by the culprit in the picture on the left of this posting! Found the empty 'middles' at the bottom of the compost heap when I moved it to another place on the plot. The li...

Has anyone any experience of these ... I can only describe it as hoops of metal tubing with tubing running round the base and a stretched thick plastic cover that is 'reinforced' with string squares ... almost like a mini poly tunnel. Yummy, I'm intrigued? Where did you get it? I think I want one!

Hi Paul, You could try rigging up something yourself. They make small (very small) solar power fan kits in Maplins. I picked one up myself for around £5 and use it on my desk at work. I've also made up some larger foam blades as a bit of an experiment and it's not too bad. My suggestion would be to ...

Hello Martin and Peter Just thought I'd let you know, thanks for the contact info. I spoke to a really helpful guy called Steve in the sales dept of Hancox who sent me the exact part I needed. I gave him my award for Customer Service experience of the year as he was brilliant! Rotovator is now worki...

Howdy Last year I finally got around to renting an allotment (after thinking about it for a few years!! ) The plot I took over hadn't been cultivated for around 6 years so was full of nettles and couch grass. However, last year I managed to clear a couple of small beds and planted, amongst other thi...

Thanks guys. I'll try both of those places. Luckily I have a rather strong and helpful neighbour who removed the fly wheel for me (being just a weak and feeble woman ) . I've already replaced the points so I know it's not that. The only other thing it can be is the coil as it does look at bit 'ropey...