Bugger-all Butternut to see anywhere, is it a bad year for them? For the first time in 3 years, I've actually finished off with some Butternuts. I changed seeds this year and used Butternut Sprinter. I had 4 plants and have picked 3 or 4 full sized fruits per plant. Since then another 4 fruit have ...

Colin, what the heck is "jaggery"? Short answer: It's a type of Indian sugar - obtainable from most Indian grocery shops. Long answer, I think it's a variety of Palm sugar. My local Tescos sells this in their "exotic" section. Failing this, you would get a similar effect by usin...

I've already posted this in the "Recipe" section, but I can definitely recommend the recipe for a sweet & spiced beetroot chutney given here:
http://mangoidli.blogspot.com/search/label/Chutneys

Hi Retro, out of interest where did you get your slips from?

My family have often asked if we can grow Sweet Potatoes.

Why not mix some yeast with it, let it ferment and settle. At the point it should start becoming much clearer! It'll also keep without refrigeration.

I'd be happy to help if you're anywhere near Bristol.

Good idea JB. I'm sure you're right about not being F1 stock (I bought the peppers in a local market in Trinidad and dried out the seeds whilst were there).

I won't tell my wife though, as I've been angling for an excuse to go back there on holiday again!

If you search, someone else has asked almost the same question. I've done this a few times and have some chilli plants that are several years old (can't get any more seed, so wanted to try keeping them going). Things to watch: - They seem to get attacked by aphids (in my house at least) Especially s...

I've just sown some Spring Greens, Spinach, Radishes and Giant Mustard. Plus some beetroot as a gamble. I've got some green manure on the go, though some seems to germinate much quicker than the others - Phaecelia, Field Beans are ok, but Tares have taken an age to germinate and there's not much sig...

Here's another beetroot one, both sweet and slightly spicy. The end result is very sticky and looks like this: http://www.pbase.com/cmalsingh/image/66367078.jpg Details of the recipe are here: m According to my daughter "I make it in small amounts, as it's quite rich, but I guarantee that one b...

skip wrote:i loved the film 'fried green tomatoes', but they didn't inspire me to try them...

Yes, you ought to try them! Very good with some Gammon.

Wait till the very first frost of the year, when the foliage will almost melt overnight, then harvest your squask and "cure" the skin on them by placing in a sunny, dry and not too hot spot. Basically the longer they have on the vine the better the end result. Hi Peter, I can see the sens...

In fact if you also have a bit of garlic to hand, you could have a go at an indian dish called Garlic, Spinach and Tomato Dal. This is one my daughter told me about. The arrangement is: - I provide as many of the ingredients as possible - She does the cooking When I get in from the garden, there's a...

You could do worse than look at this site: http://mangoidli.blogspot.com/2006/09/chillies.html There's also an amazing recipie for Mango Soup that uses chillies, plus several other ingredients (though I guess you'll probably have to buy the mangoes....!) http://mangoidli.blogspot.com/2006/09/mango-s...

Ok, I know that we're pinning our hopes on seed for next year's attenmpt. In the meantime, I thought you might like to see the results of ones I grew from shop shallots this year. I bought them as banana shallots from our local Indian grocers. They (or ones like them) seem to be increasingly availab...

This may be more fun than it sounds.

A neighbour has a couple of folding chairs in his allotment shed. After a hard afternoon's hoeing, his wife arrives with a bottle of wine and they sit and watch the sun go down.

I can't find a lot wrong with that!