I sowed my indoor tomatoes (Gardener's Delight and Alicante) at the end of February last year and they were excellent. They were leggy at first, on a windowsill, but soon beefed up with increasing light levels when moved to the greenhouse and stole a march on later sowings, which were of value in pr...

Of course you-all know I'm growing masses of Cavelo Nero though I'm also growing some curly kale. No, I didn't know that. I'm now in love with curly kale, a dwarf type that I'll share with you when I find the seed packet. Might it be Winterbor? In all ways it is identical to Pentland Brigg but more...

Would you say once it's established it's a stable/good root to have, or is it just a "novel" veg to try once and then move onto something else? I cannot say for certain. I think it's fair to say that if it was worthwhile, it'd be more commonplace. It just needs for a few trendy chefs to s...

Turnip-Rooted Chervil ( Chaerophyllum bulbosum ) was once widely grown in Victorian times but has since fallen out of favour. I have attempted to grow it on two occasions. It is not easy, certainly not as easy as horseradish, to which it has no relation. Germinating the seed can be erratic, and autu...

Common sense would dictate that cross-pollination between varieties is only something to be mindful of if you are planning to save seed. However, for reasons which I have so far not completely understood, with some varieties of sweetcorn, particularly the super-sweet varieties, pollen from other var...

Hair doesn't break down very quickly, if at all, but birds take it away for nesting. Most of what I hoover up from the lobby is soil so it's only right it goes back on the garden.

I've used pelleted seed for both parsnips and carrots for the past two years I've not encountered pelleted parsnip seed before. The seeds are actually quite large — they are winged, broad disks — so space-sowing is straightforward, even with my rubbish sight. The received wisdom is to sow two or th...

I would normally advise direct sowing in early autumn, while the soil is warm and when germination will be rapid and robust. But in this case I would advise bringing on your lettuce in pots / cell trays. By the time they are planted out, they will have advanced about 4 weeks. If you don't have room ...

You might need to be a bit more specific when you say that the lemon tree has "black leaves". If the leaves have turned uniformly black, then they may have been frosted. In which case they will falloff, and new ones may appear in the spring. It's not unusual for a lemon to completely defol...

Any man who can understand anything Raymond Blanc says is a better man than me (and a future King of England, no doubt).

"Nous n'avons pas coupé suffisamment de têtes", is one possibility.

Hold a charity garage sale, maybe. Or pass it on to your local allotment society. There are many allotment holders on low incomes who would be grateful for your surplus.

Yellow Rattle. I don't think we've had that one so far. Here's a summary: Item Frequency Onion 2 Endive 2 Elephant Garlic 2 Apricot 2 Yam 2 Egg Plant 2 Eucalyptus 2 Elderberry 2 Nasturtium 4 Euphorbia 2 Oregano 2 Lovage 2 Kale 2 Rhubarb 3 Amaranth 3 Almond 2 Ylang Ylang 2 Summer Savoury 2 Ulex 2 Art...

SInce you've fed and watered them this year and they are still short, then something is awry. You may do well to replant with a known variety from a reputable source, but don't replant all at once in case they other canes improve with time and further care. So maybe replace half of them or, if you h...

I saw "flat-fronted pant" in a local well-known high street store recently, which rather amused me. I've not come across pants being referred to as a pair, I must say, only simply as pants plural, except maybe in the USA where trousers are pants and pants seem to be knickers, even for men.

Primrose wrote:I dont, have a steamer and although I have a pressure cooker, don't use it for cooking vegetables.

Why not?