Thank you for that enlightenment, snooky!

And about Marmite: we have a German birdwatching friend who visits the UK most years to indulge in his hobby and ALWAYS takes back a jar of Marmite!

Having just given our vintage wooden greenhouse (Alton Amateur, 6x8, hardwood, glass to ground) a good autumn clean, I realise that it will have to be replaced sooner or later. An exact replacement (which I should love) would cost almost £2000 and just isn't on. So would an aluminium house of simila...

snooky, nothing to do with Marmite or beer, but what's that flag you are flying?

gill_s, I think it's unlikely that the caterpillars of the silver Y moth are eating your brassicas. Firstly, their food plants are stinging nettles, clovers and flax (none of these belong to the cruciferae like the brassicas) and secondly, it's not been a good year for them because they need warm an...

Quite a few of our leeks are bolting and I am never quite sure whether the "flower stalk" can be eaten when it is still inside the leek and quite soft. I usually take it out and add it to the compost, but perhaps we could eat it?

Do you know, Catherine, I remember that, too. It was on both sides of the A65 and we thought it was absolutely beautiful. It must have been just the right light and weather conditions for it to be so noticeable! This time of the year there is, of course, a lot of gossamer about and sometimes it catc...

I heartily agree about mice loving the field beans, After several years of trying to use field beans as green manure, I have given up on them because they were always eaten by mice (we found the leftovers all over the allotment, particularly in "secret" places like under the rhubarb leaves...

We keep ours in the ground till they are needed. We always lose some to slugs but overall but still get plenty to eat. I know it's too late for you, legraph, but Autumn King seems to keep best of all in the ground.

Geoff, we usually order ours from T&M and have already done so for 2009. Am I not right in thinking it's only Alan Romans and T&M who stock the Sarpo varieties? Last year we ordered ours from T&M at the start of October and certainly received all the Sarpos ordered, unlike some people wh...

We are members of Which? and got the full report. As last year, I was surprised that DT Brown fared so badly in the tests because I have always found their seeds very reliable (as well as reasonably priced and with a good range).

Hello, SB, Yes, glyphosate works well but for it to be effective, plants have to be growing so the best time to use it is during spring or summer. As afar as I know it works on the chlorophyll within the plant and if the plant is growing vigorously at the time of application, it will succumb much mo...

It turned frosty quite suddenly last night here (lovely glistening cover on the car and garage roof!) but by morning it had warmed up again to 4 degrees. Pouring rain all day today, but tomorrow should be clear and dry again though, I understand, further south it's going to get very wet tomorrow. I ...

We have grown Sarpo Mira and Sarpo Axona before and have never had blight on them, though this year's Sarpo Mira were badly affected by slugs.

I think this year it's no good following what it says on the seed packet, Catherine. almost all of our early sprouting broccoli (due to be harvested next spring) are already finished and the dwarf wallflowers (sown in May, due to flower next spring) are in full flower! So, I would harvest the brocco...

Dug up our first parsnip today and it's a grand specimen, albeit a little forked at the end. The variety is 'Countess' which I have grown the last few years, germinated in the approved KG manner, on damp kitchen paper. It certainly works.