That's what I thought too, Beryl, but the caulies that nearly died of drought went on to form really good heads - much to my amazement. That's what has led me to think that overwintering ones are much more tolerant of a bit of neglect than the rest!

Sorry, John, you'll have to wait a bit longer for an 'expert' to reply. All I can do is share with you are the results of my own limited caulie successes! My summer caulies were always a complete failure - despite fleece or netting protection, most were devoured by pests long before maturity. Autumn...

That's interesting, Mike. You would expect black to absorb the heat of the sun -when there is any- and the polythene should help prevent heat loss through windchill. On the other hand, although I'm no scientist, I think black also speeds up temperature loss from the soil when the air temperature fal...

Hi, Donedigging Don't panic yet. My own spring cabbage - spring hero - only have outer leaves at the moment. In other years, I've had to wait until May for them to form a heart. It's worth the wait, as although they are quite late for spring cabbages, they beat the bugs and help fill that gap when t...

You've given me an idea.I've been wondering myself just how effective it is to cover soil, either before or after planting. In another thread, the question of whether potatoes should be planted yet or not has been discussed, and quite a lot of people are covering them after planting. Is it necessary...

I work one the basis that if the soil is fit to dig, then get the potatoes in! I did this a week ago with two rows of Charlotte. There are still some more to go in, which ideally I will plant in two or three weeks-this should spread the harvest, and will also give a bit of insurance against May fros...

Like lots of you, I give the leaves a helping hand to escape when needed. But I do remember reading that if the seed leaves get damaged, then growth of the plant will be affected. I saw this for myself last year with one of my courgette seedlings. Only one plant had damaged leaves, and it ended up h...

Thanks, Lady Gardener.
I was really hoping someone would say what you've just said with regard to potatoes. I shall heap it on / in and hope for great things!

Thanks for the warning, Monica. I'll bear that in mind. At the moment, I would have to rent a marquee to cover the pile, so as much as possible will have to be used this year. I started shifting it today - half of my strawberries got buried under it, I nearly lost the shed, and it's gone right acros...

My other half was rather taken aback when I asked him for a pile of manure for my birthday. However, much to my delight, he has duly delivered - well, not personally, obviously! Anyway, the result is one huge pile of very well rotted farmyard (cow, apparantly) manure. I think when he asked the farme...

Just a tip-don't leave your Enviromesh in a shed where mice can get at it in winter. Mine is still going strong after seven years, apart from the huge hole eaten out of it by these pesky rodents a couple of years ago!

I often have a surplus of parsnips still in the ground and re-sprouting at this time of year, and they don't taste any the worse for it to me! I'll be lifting them all soon though, if only to free up the ground for a different crop. I'll either dice them up (great to through in a veg curry or stew) ...