Primrose, parsnip seed is one seed you should always buy fresh every year, it goes off very quickly. I use lots of other seeds for two or even three years running, but never parsnips.

I have had the same problem this year, vegswap, but it can't have been birds in our case because the plants are covered by wire netting, BUT that means the mice still get at them and I feel sure it's mice which have nibbled some of the top shoots of the peas. It probably happened when it was very dr...

Cauliflowers do need a lot of watering, too. I sink an upturned, bottomless plastic bottle next to each cauli and water into that because, on our very sloping ground, any normal watering runs down the hill before it soaks into the ground.

Our first cuckoo came on 28 April (duly reported under 'Birds, Animals and Livestock'!). A local farmer with his farm right at the edge of the moor always rings me straight away when he hears it and his phone call came at 7am, followed by another villager half an hour later with the same news. With ...

We saw the first bats in March, most likely pipistrelles. Then there was a gap when it was very windy and cool, now they are out again. I often wonder whether the bats really go back to hibernate when the spring weather turns cold? We have in the past seen them flying during the day (around noon!) i...

Our mint bed did the same last year after many years of growing strongly. It definitely wasn't contaminated manure because I did not use any manure on the bed, but I wondered whether it might be mint rust. The plants showed no sign of it but they just sort of disappeared. I have planted new plants (...

Caz, I always grow our onions from seed, sowing 6 - 8 seeds into each module because I want lots of smaller onions. I sowed them at the beginning of February and I planted them out about four weeks ago, under fleece. Yesterday I took the fleece off (mainly because I wanted to use it over the celeria...

Primrose, racing pigeons are continually handled, they are therefore used to human company, so I would just feed and water it with the other birds. But Geoff is right, it's no good tracing its owner, because a racing pigeon which doesn't find it way back home, is 'not fit for purpose' so it would ju...

Our first cuckoo arrived yesterday morning, hopefully to stay rather than just passing through. Previous arrivals range from about 20 April to 10 May, so it's just about average this year. The dawn chorus is really brilliant at the moment, including a very vociferous chiffchaff and blackcap and seve...

I do use growbags for three tomatoes each, but I cut out three holes and sort of 'screw' three bottomless pots (about 8" pots) into them, and then plant the tomatoes into these pots. I also push two bottomless plastic bottles upside down into the growbag (between the pots) and use these for wat...

Like OH says, moles are very sensitive to human smell, so rub the gloves you are using with some "moley" soil and don't wash them or use them for any other purpose between dealing with the mole traps!

OH, only just saw your query: the lawn is doing very well. As we haven't had any rain since early April we have watered it regularly by leaving the sprinkler on for 30 minutes in 5 or 6 places. It's had three cuts already and, as the cut grass is very clean without any weed seeds, we have used it to...

Whoever owns the pasture next to your allotment should be just as interested in getting rid of moles as you are, Caz, so why not work with him/her and employ a mole catcher? If it is a meadow which is mown for hay or silage, getting soil into the hay or silage from the molehills could be dangerous f...

Caz, get a professional mole catcher to get rid of them! The allotments in our twin village were plagued with moles from the neighbouring field and the mole catcher soon caught them! It's too late for your parsnips, I am afraid, but at least you wouldn't suffer any more damage.

I would start with fresh compost. The old potato compost will be perfectly ok for veggies of another family but I wouldn't risk re-using it or even part of it for potatoes.