You are right Colin, I wonder if the French beans taste better because I don't bother blanching them and just freeze them whole. My son said he had put some runner beans in the freezer for me when I was on holiday and he just stuffed them whole into freezer bags - I will try some and report back.

Do you have a large compost heap Lizzie?

I agree with John, the climbing French beans freeze and taste much better than the runner beans. My favourites are Mr. Fearn's Purple flowered and Poletschka from HSL and Cherokee Trail of Tears has been good. I pick runner beans small and tender and try not to leave them to get huge. I don't think ...

Hi Chantal & Rosie,

I have a roof over my wormery, so hopefully the jumper won't get too soggy. Like you, I think I'll have to dismantle it and clean it out when the weather warms up a bit. There doesn't seem to have been much activity of late.

Pat

Hi Primrose, They don't have detergent and bleach or enzymes, but they do provide a tube of stuff to put on bad stains before you put them in the wash. I cut out a rinse cycle by using the programme that holds after the rinse and then re-setting it to spin. I've only used them once and haven't neede...

Hi Beeman2, I agree with OH. If the plants and tubers were disease free last season there is nothing to stop you using some for seed potatoes this year. I've checked the ones I saved for re-planting this morning to make sure none are rotten and the Kestrel, Arran Comrade and Shetland Black are alrea...

Hi Geoff, It may be a load of balls, but one good thing about them is that they don't have any artificial perfume and the clothes just smell clean.

I wish I hadn't seen this - now I'm wanting a coffee plant, black fig and pomegranite!

Hi everyone, I started to grow my own fruit and veg about 35 years ago when my children were small as I didn't like the thought of them eating food laced with chemicals. I've about half an acre of garden, some flat and the rest on a series of terraces which is a bit more challenging. I've a small or...

I've just looked on the box and it says the ingredients are: Higher alkyl sulfate, non-ionic surfactant, sodium metasilicate, calcium carbonate and sodium carbonate. The clothes came out nice and clean - the food stains have gone from the table cloth and it all smells fresh. It was quicker too as I ...

That sounds like my Rotoco plant, but the picture of the fruits is not quite the same, my plants have more oval fruits, up to 2 inches long. The plants over-winter nicely in the conservatory and then fruit very early. As I've said they send out really long shoots if you let them do their own thing, ...

Has anyone used these and what do you think of them? I've just decided to try them and used them for the first time today. The washing looks nice and clean and smells fresh. They cost £34.99, but are supposed to last for 1,000 washes, and you don't need to use fabric softener so they should work out...

Hi John, thanks for the welcome when I joined. I think my last bag of pellets was £6.75. I wouldn't mind if they ate them. They seem to have gone right off them and a lot get wasted. It is probably my fault as I do give them other things as well which they obviously prefer. I was paying only £4.75 l...

Hi Cevenol and Nemo (My cockatiel is called Nemo!), I have a lovely chilli pepper called Rotoco which is quite fleshy and a medium heat. It has black seeds and purple flowers and is very productive. They are own saved seeds from last year if you would like to try them. I also have about 40 different...

I'm thrilled to bits. My new Cream Legbars have laid their first egg and it is a beautiful pale blue. The hens are very pretty too with cute faces and little feathery hats. I have a Lavender Araucana which also lays a blue egg, but it is more of a greeny blue. They look lovely in the egg box alterna...