Search found 702 matches
- Tue Jan 12, 2016 9:51 pm
- Forum: Best practices
- Topic: Bolting Leeks
- Replies: 14
- Views: 7069
Re: Bolting Leeks
My leeks are not doing too badly considering - last year I had a lot of soft or rotten ones, due, I think, to leek moth or miner. This time I've kept the enviromesh netting over right up until now (and typing this has just reminded me that I must get it off before we get snow!!!), and there's far le...
- Wed Sep 02, 2015 10:51 pm
- Forum: Seasonal tips
- Topic: Storing carrots
- Replies: 8
- Views: 6099
Re: Storing carrots
I have stored carrots in dry compost, and it worked well for me. They kept well until the new year. Some did sprout, but it didn't prove to be a problem for me. However, I have started leaving them in the ground now as it is much easier and (as long as mice don't eat them!!!) they keep better and mu...
- Fri Aug 28, 2015 5:57 pm
- Forum: Cooking tips
- Topic: How long did your non-stick last ?
- Replies: 29
- Views: 14514
Re: How long did your non-stick last ?
My last-but-one frying pan was guaranteed for life. Unfortunately it died after only a couple of years, so end of guarantee. Well, that plus the fact that I hadn't kept the receipt! In fact, it was still very non-stick, but had buckled, making it pretty useless on my ceramic hob. I have a great wok ...
- Sun Aug 23, 2015 9:53 pm
- Forum: Cooking tips
- Topic: How to remove stubborn glue from jars and bottles
- Replies: 15
- Views: 11717
Re: How to remove stubborn glue from jars and bottles
That's strange, Felix - white spirit won't work for me on the really stubborn type of glue, no matter now much elbow grease I use. I was given eight jars this week to use for my jam making, and without my newly-found baking soda and oil solution, I would have had to throw four of them away. Luckily,...
- Tue Aug 18, 2015 7:10 am
- Forum: General chatter
- Topic: New joke thread to cheer you all up
- Replies: 110
- Views: 30812
Re: New joke thread to cheer you all up
This isn't a joke, but a 'mistranslation' that really made me laugh yesterday - someone tried to tell me in French that they had made a greek nut cake, but what they actually said translated as 'a cake made of Greeks' nuts". Mind you, you do hear of people selling body parts when they are despe...
- Mon Aug 17, 2015 5:09 pm
- Forum: Cooking tips
- Topic: How to remove stubborn glue from jars and bottles
- Replies: 15
- Views: 11717
Re: How to remove stubborn glue from jars and bottles
In the past I've tried nail varnish remover and it didn't work. I've also tried petrol, paraffin, white spirit and numerous other substances that OH has brought in out of the shed, but none of those did the slightest bit of good either. Some labels and glue wash off so easily - I wish that all manuf...
- Mon Aug 17, 2015 1:12 pm
- Forum: Cooking tips
- Topic: How to remove stubborn glue from jars and bottles
- Replies: 15
- Views: 11717
Re: How to remove stubborn glue from jars and bottles
WD40? I'll try that next time, though I'll have to see OH has any in the shed first.
- Sun Aug 16, 2015 4:19 pm
- Forum: Cooking tips
- Topic: How to remove stubborn glue from jars and bottles
- Replies: 15
- Views: 11717
How to remove stubborn glue from jars and bottles
Not strictly a cooking tip, but if you're like me, trying in vain to remove irremovable glue is something that you have probably tried to do when you are making home made jams and preserves, so I decided this was the best place for this. I've finally found a solution (thanks to Google, of course), s...
- Thu Aug 13, 2015 8:29 am
- Forum: Cooking tips
- Topic: rhubarb and strawberry-flavoured vinegar?
- Replies: 4
- Views: 4517
Re: rhubarb and strawberry-flavoured vinegar?
Fred: Raspberry vinegar does sound nice. My raspberries are only just beginning to fruit, but if I have a glut in a few weeks time I might give it a go. Primrose: For some reason, I could only find separate rhubarb vinegar and strawberry vinegar recipes on the Internet. That surprised me, given that...
- Tue Aug 11, 2015 2:07 pm
- Forum: Cooking tips
- Topic: rhubarb and strawberry-flavoured vinegar?
- Replies: 4
- Views: 4517
rhubarb and strawberry-flavoured vinegar?
Has anyone any experience of making fruit-flavoured vinegars? I didn't even know these even existed until very recently, but fancy having a go at it now. As rhubarb and strawberry go really well together in a dessert, I'm guessing that the same would be true in a vinegar. I don't suppose any of you ...
- Sun Jul 05, 2015 8:51 pm
- Forum: General chatter
- Topic: Your Favourite, or most referred to, gardening book
- Replies: 22
- Views: 8388
Re: Your Favourite, or most referred to, gardening book
My most used has to be Dr D G Hessayon's "The New Vegetable and Herb Expert". My copy is rather out of date now, meaning that some of the varieties that are recommended are no longer available, and no mention is made of some of the more recent garden pests. Even so, it was invaluable when ...
- Sat Jul 04, 2015 7:51 pm
- Forum: General chatter
- Topic: My worst ever vegetable growing mistakes
- Replies: 9
- Views: 4069
Re: My worst ever vegetable growing mistakes
Not labelling my pots. I thought that I would remember which pots were courgettes, which were cucumbers and which were butternut squash. Needless to say, I didn't! The same goes for the different brassicas - I learned the hard way that it's impossible (well, for me anyway) to tell sprouts, caulies, ...
- Sat Jul 04, 2015 7:40 pm
- Forum: General chatter
- Topic: And my best vegetable growing hints
- Replies: 9
- Views: 3882
Re: And my best vegetable growing hints
Check the weather forecast before transplanting seedlings into the soil - if scorching temperatures are expected in the coming day or two, put off the job until it cools down again. On a similar vein, don't transplant your leeks into holes if torrential rain is forecast. Wait until the risk passes, ...
- Sat Jul 04, 2015 4:51 pm
- Forum: Harvesting Q&A
- Topic: Ripening blackcurrants
- Replies: 4
- Views: 8867
Re: Ripening blackcurrants
Mine actually seem to have cooked on the bush - I noticed yesterday morning that a lot of still-red ones had fallen off the bush, and when I accidentally knocked a branch, loads more fell off. When I felt them, they had gone soft. As I had kept them well watered in the warm, dry weather, all I can t...
- Fri May 15, 2015 6:23 pm
- Forum: Weeds, Pests and Diseases
- Topic: leather jackets in lawn
- Replies: 2
- Views: 3196
Re: leather jackets in lawn
Thanks, Geoff. I have a feeling that my son would be reluctant to pay someone to deal with the problem, but we'll see! At the moment, he is thinking of treating it with nematodes, but I think he will have to wait until late summer to do that. Luckily, because it is only a small lawn, it shouldn't co...