Thanks JB - phew! What with all the rain I haven't managed to do anything about my broccoli yet - I'll leave them where they are and see if I get anything next spring.... Thanks again,

We too have been plagued by the hungry hungry caterpillars. I've tried to pick them off, but there are just too many of them. I'm going to try to leave the plants in and see what happens. We'll just have to be a bit more proactive next year and spot them earlier, or keep them covered over. It's a pi...

Hi Chicken - glad to hear that your watering system is working - we've tried a similar idea and our polytunnel is like a jungle! We've got a water butt and hosepipe, which goes into the polytunnel and we've then attached drippy pipes into the two sides where we plant. It does the trick as we can't u...

I thought I'd give you an update. The crown that had the first shoot has two others joining it, and another crown has one showing through. I might just be in luck! Thank you all for the reassurance.

I planted my first asparagus crowns last year - can't remember the name, but they all grew. We left them to sprout, being the first year. The leaves died down in the winter, we mulched them with well rotted horse manure. However, we only have one sprig of asparagus so far. No signs of any more. Have...

Hi all. Potato blight (phytophorus Infestans) is always going to be a problem on allotments. The issue is little control when it does appear because there's little we can do organically, poor hygiene and rotations too close together. Last year was a particularly bad year due to heavy rain and warm d...

Hi - I've just joined the gang of bloggers on this site and noticed your note about Bordeaux mixture. The reason it's not widely used, is that it's actually poisonous and very unpleasant to use. If you're mixing it yourself with hydrated lime, you need to be aware that this will burn skin especially...