Good for you Charlie! I see where you're coming from now! Yes, I wasn't implying YOU were doing the importing....But it's still been shipped an awful long way. The fact that you're using offcuts which may well have gone to waste, is a good thing in my book, but then again, there are those who would ...

Primrose Don't worry - you can have loads of Loganberry bushes for next year - it propagates beautifully. Also, it'll thicken up wonderfully for next year. It's probably sending out new Green branches now, for next year's fruiting. Take one of these, and pin it down into the ground, under a handful ...

Thanks Johnboy,

that's a good tip - I'll take some cuttings and stick them in alongside the original. The original has been there 3 or 4 years, so if it suddenly keels over, at least I know I've got roughly another 3/4 years before the clone does the same!

Hi Charlie, How are you approaching this Charlie - as a gardener, or as a woodworking craftsman? As a gardener, I would not pay anything for a plant labels - I make my own from sticks and cuttings around the garden, plane a flat area on them, and write on the flat bit, they last several seasons, no ...

Hi Mazmezroz, we grow purple sage in a flower bed, in amongst roses, lavender, and Rosemary. We don't give it ANY care or attention, apart from compost mulching and a bit of a trim along with the rest of the flower bed in autumn. It's been there several years, is very succesful, and seems fully hard...

Yup, had our first raspberries, Glen Cova, a few tayberries, a few Loganberries, and a few redcurrants this weekend (10th June) in the first fruit salad of the year for us, all a little on the sharp side, but full of promise as we get more summer sun to sweeten them. I reckon this is at least 2 week...

Well that settles it then,
I'm growing Green Kohl Rabi now, which I guess is an early crop, and I'm off to the garden centre for some purple ones to sow ASAP for a later crop. Thanks all!

Hi Charlie, plywood more environmentally friendly? Well....Yes, and No. I'm not taking sides here by the way, but here's why some people would argue that plywood isn't very "green":- When Plywood is manufactured, even "Birch" Plywood, it usually uses other timbers for the inner (...

Hi Johnboy, in terms of taste and green or purple varieties, I'd always thought it was the other way round! (ie. I thought the Green ones were more tasty) Do you find in general, it's the purple ones that taste best then? Or is it just that particular variety? Maybe I've been growing Greenies all th...

Nice one Charlie. A worthy experiment! I find the plastic ones go brittle very quickly too. If it's new plywood which you've bought especially for the purpose, then there are those who would argue that that is itself a very "un-green" way of doing things - Plywood takes a lot of production...

Hi folks, keep on persevering PLEASE! Maybe you've just been unlucky with the variety or seed supplier? I think Kohl Rabi is ace - I find it to be one of those amazingly easy crops like chard, which is very underrated. First time I grew them, I used Organic plug plants from Delfland nurseries. Since...

My confession- pottering in the greenhouse over a VERY wet weekend. Found myself busting for the loo. I couldn't be bothered walking all the way back to the house, taking my very muddy boots off, etc etc etc, so I just relieved myself into a handy watering can. (We still have bubble wrap inside the ...

Hi Lindi, I've seen a 200l water butt fill up in one afternoon during a very heavy mid-summer afternoon rainstorm. A house roof can collect and disperse a phenomenal amount of rainwater. I very much doubt you will be able to permanently monitor the level and keep it drained on a year-round basis. As...

I'd say it's a distinct possibility. They need as much recycled waste as possible. Whilst I wholeheartedly applaud the attempts of councils to increase their recycling, I can't help feeling they're "cooking the books" somewhat in order to improve their own recycling-vs-landfill figures. Th...

What sort of power rating do these machines run at? (There should be a label on the back somewhere specifying 230V a.c., fuse rating etc - we're interested in the number of Watts). I'm minded to convert an old laboratory box with a couple of lightbulbs, and an old computer fan, as an experiment. I'v...