I compost everything - runner bean vines, brassica stems, the lot. I find it all breaks down in the end, and I get some really lovely compost every year. In fact I’ve just finished emptying both my bins and I seem to have more compost than I’ve ever had before. Just mulched half of my growing area w...

I’ve got 2 apple trees, one is a Bramley, about 20 years old, the other is a Sunset, which is about 5. Is anybody else having a lot more dropping than usual? And a few even seem to be ready to pick (not all). Both trees have a lot more fruit on them this year and really big fruit too, especially the...

West - good to hear your runner beans are doing ok! And I’m impressed with that melon I must say. Lots of rain here in the last few days and for the next few days by the looks of it. It’s certainly making up for all the dry weeks now, at least here in the midlands. Keep thinking about OH with the di...

Ah yes, I sympathise regarding the football Westi, I think my OH watches every match, and I can’t stand it!

Picking Japanese Wineberries morning and evening daily at the moment! They do so well every year and they’re one of my favourite fruits. The climbing French beans are getting near the top of the canes and have some lovely purple flowers coming at the bottom - they’re a heritage variety which I’ve sa...

Some decent rain here this morning - really happy to see that. Most of my lettuces have bolted now as well but I thought I’d leave one to flower and set seed as a bit of an experiment. I’ve got some more going but they need to be a bit bigger before I plant them out. No cucumbers or tomatoes yet but...

Yes I agree wholeheartedly OH, that marvellous feeling keeps us going with it all don’t you think! And yes, there was something on the telly yesterday morning about there being lots of ladybirds this year - that’s got to be good for our gardens hasn’t it. I didn’t get a single blackfly on the broad ...

Another hot one here again today - while I was watering first thing this morning before it got too hot, I noticed a few of the calabrese should be ready to pick sometime this week! The blackcurrants have finally finished and I’ve frozen loads so that will save us buying blueberries for quite a while...

I don’t know the definitive answer but I think I’d be tempted to use it and see! I hate seeing stuff going to waste especially something as potentially useful as nettle or comfrey tea.

Thanks OH, I’ll start pinching out the tallest ones then (they’re not quite at the top of the canes yet, and some are only part way there).

Should I be stopping my climbing beans when they get to, say around 5 foot or so? Will this encourage them to produce more shoots from further down? They always seem to get in a big tangle when they get tall, but I’ve never really been sure whether stopping them a bit shorter than usual means I get ...

Glad to hear some of the runners survived Westi! The dripper thingy sounds like a very good plan.
Good luck with the building work, it must feel like it’s going on forever!

How are those bites you had by the way? Hope they’ve gone down a bit? I seem to be a magnet for biting insects - I get new bites almost daily. Don’t think they are as bad as yours sounded though.

Oh no, how very disappointing Westi, so have all the ones you bought died or have some survived? Hope your Lady Di ones do ok, thank goodness you had some seeds that you could still sow. I’m pretty sure I’ve started climbing beans around this time in previous years and still got a pretty good harvest.

That sounds very optimistic Westi - it will be very interesting to hear how they are when you’re next down there!