I got fed up with appalling germination on my stony allotment so I've tried sowing in 4" pots and planting out as a clump when at the 1 or 2 true leaf stage.I've used Early Nantes to hopefully mature quickly and I planted them out this weekend.I watered the pots the day before and they came out...

That's pretty good Deb,the wood on the falling down shed might even make up into bed sides or a compost heap.It's fenced at the sides and with a central path I notice,is that normal on this site?

I stopped listening to Radio 2 when they sacked Jimmy Young......

Weed,eat Asparagus Peas very small or you will have a mouthful of stringy bits!
Sprout,where did you get your di Spagna beans from? they sound good.

Don't let tansy seed it's as bad as lemon balm for getting you in a grip and never leaving!

I dug mine before the rain as I found in a previous year that if you had rain just as they were ready then the darn things started to regrow and wouldn't keep over winter.I've never had a problem with mildew or rot (touch wood!)but I could imagine that the hot and wet might very well start it off.

Tried any new varieties this year? Impressed or not? Thumbs up for me are Lettuce Bronze Arrowhead, Courgette Striata di Napoli both Real Seeds and Cucumber Rocky (great little 3" cues for young ones lunch box). Thumbs down suprisingly Tomato Costoluto Fiorentino which started really well but a...

Have a good look round at what your nearest neighbours grow,it will give you an idea of what the soil is like.
Access is important too,I am up the top of a sloping site and the only wide path is down the bottom so everything has to be pushed uphill!

If you want a nice zingy leaf for your salad that's not as much trouble as rocket try French Sorrel,sown in pots to pick young or as a permanant clump in the garden. It doesn't suffer from flea beetle or bolt at the first sign of hot weather and it even makes a good soup! The leaves have a fresh lem...

I don't know what it is but mine always seem to get it and the plant never seems to suffer from having it so I don't let it bother me!

I think it has to be 'My family and other Animals' by Gerry Durrell,just so observant and funny,although I'm with Peter on the desert island choice. For non-fiction it has to be any cookbook by Jane Grigson...who needs pictures when you can describe recipes like that? I take them to bed for a night ...

Blossom end rot is caused by irregular watering leading to ,I believe calcium shortage?,help me out someone,is that right? Anyway,it's not a disease or fungus that spreads so don't remove the fruit a lot of them will be usable for cooking etc. when you remove the black end. Sort out the watering and...

There's a trick you can use to remove the slime from around the seed and that's to put the scooped out seeds in a jam jar with a little water and leave it for just 3 days,it will start to go mouldy,then wash in a sieve and lay out to dry either on paper (which they will stick to)or on a saucer or pl...

My courgettes have stood still in this hot weather and are just starting to explode into growth,as long as they look healthy I shouldn't worry.If they look a bit pale and sick then give them a quick boost foliar feed such as seaweed liquid to give them a kick-start.

Have you got to the Hungry Caterpillar yet Jopsy? That one repeats so much it could have been a kipper!