I find that spouts, shredded and stir fried, don't seem to create the gas problem, and actually find them a far more delicious way of serving this vegetable. I do grow aubergines and use them in ratatouille, mousaka and roast vegetables but find I cannot eat them unless they're mixed up in a sauce o...

Have just picked my first kohl rabi today, and as you say, Beryl,the leaves are too good to waste so will be using them in a stir fry. I think the bulbs are such an under-rated vegetable, probably because few supermarkets ever sell them so the only way to try them is if you grow them yourself.

As nobody replied, we went ahead and experimented anyway with the pea pods, simmering them with a little butter and chopped onion for about 20 minutes, and then added some ham stock and a handful of peas and cooked for another 10 mins. Whizzed with a stick blender and put through a sieve. End result...

I was watching the latest "Lifting Leeks" episode and the discussion on rust. If leeks start to suffer from rust while still in full growth, can you simply trim off the affected leaves and let the plants go on growing? I believe some people sometimes trim off some of the tops of the seedli...

I grow both French Climbing and Runner beans, to try an ensure a better yield as French Beans flowers are self-fertile apparently and don't need bees to pollinate them like Runners do but I do find them rather unreliable in germinating and they definitely don't like the cold or windy weather when th...

Scarlett Emperor ? That's one of the most widely grown runner bean varieties.

So sorry to hear about your uncle and your shed. If only these little yobs could be made to understand just how much effort goes into maintaining an allotment. Perhaps we need a new sadistic form of Community Sentencing where as a punishment, these vandals are forced to dig and maintain an allotment...

Looks lovely and I'm particularly envious of your climbing beans. They look so much healthier than mine which are in a nice sunny border, so perhaps it's a bit of a myth that runner beans don't like being planted in shade. Despite their sunny position most of mine haven't even seriously started to t...

Around the beginning of January I start saving all my used teabags and put an inch of padding in the bottom of the pots in which I grow peppers, aubergines and chillis. They stop the compost leaching out and also retain a certain amount of moisture until they disintegrate at the end of the season. T...

Felix - that will make us all feel better!

I do think that raised beds have become a gardening fashion issue, rather like decking was, and apart from those of us who are growing older or who have bad backs and would welcome not having to bend down quite so far to plant and weed, I'm not convinced they produce any better or healthier vegetabl...

Not growing squash this year but my courgettes look decidedly slow. My outdoor cucumbers, which unlike the courgettes, have been covered with cloches until this past week-end seem to be faring somewhat better so it may be a case of this family of plants them not liking the windy conditions. Covering...

Every year when you harvest your first crop there's still a new bit of magic all over again, isn't there? I always recall the first tomato crop I grew in our tiny garden after we were married , digging out a huge compost heap we found behind the shed. I grew a border of the best & biggest tomato...

Always good to lead by example. But I hope Her Majesty doesn't bother to dress up like that if she ever comes to view my humble garden plot. With my backside hanging out of my tatty old trousers or shorts and a grubby tee-shirt I would feel considerably under-dressed for the occasion. But if this pu...

Does anybody have some good recipes for cooking with pea and broad bean pods? We went overboard this morning at a PYO farm and the pods are so lovely & fresh I don't want to consign them to the compost heap. Quick replies please as they're peas are so delicious that they're diminshing by the mom...