Hi all It's been a while, but I have moved house! The new house has an existing veg plot, about the size of a full allotment. It is a bit neglected and I have discovered a network of white roots in some of the beds. It is fleshy and white, like bindweed, but one or two bits seem to be attached to a ...

I seem to recall my grandad saying onions like a firm bed - compost can be quite airy and soft. Plus watering will always be an issue, and don't forget the rubbish spring we had. Maybe next year try a loam based compost for the shallots? This will be firmer and potentially less prone to drying out.

Yeah I know horse owners feed them garlic to keep the flies away, and it may be why cows will break down fences to get to wild garlic, but I wouldn't risk feeding it to my dog because of the allium connection...I think in this weather fleas are just a problem all round. Plus her breath smells bad en...

A quick internet search suggests it persists in leafy veg, ie there would be dangerously high levels of it in the leaves that you ate. Personally I wouldn't risk it....

Going off on a tangent I managed to clean shoot a rat in my garden this morning - but that didn't stop the dog claiming it as her kill! Our little hamlet is currently engaged in a rat war, everywhere around us is the ping of air rifles...

Hi Amy

You may want to check the strand "organic treatment for allium white rot" that is running at the moment (Assuming you haven't done so already!)

Flan

Looks like rats to me, or possibly voles.

So even rats have some use....

Realised just how sharp the drainage on my new plot is - even with rain in the week 3 dry days and newly planted things looking decidedly frazzled. So stepped up mulching effort (with generous help of all the neighbours grass clippings), and tried Bob Flowerdews recommendation of trench irrigation.

I've used the waspinator - it seemed to work for a while, but couldn't hold out against the temptations of outdoor eating in late summer, wasps everywhere. It does look very silly though.

Ha Ha spoke too soon, pak choi decimated, dill vanished, lettuces shorn. Chicken wire has now been deployed. Anyone know how to make a scarecrow?

Yes my experience has not been brilliant with them before, which is why i was surprised they worked this time. Maybe not being on an allotment site the birds are a bit thick?

I had the same problem and, for lack of anything else to hand, hung up some old CDs. Amazingly it seems to have worked!

If you are using the woven membrane as a permanent fixture, for instance around fruit, you will find that couch grass can spear it's way through it, and grass will creep across from the edges. So some kind of extra layer is a good plan, although you still need to be vigilant - it isn't a fit and for...

Got a new one and is now working fine! Well it still cuts out every now and then but now it starts again first pull.