Well. the motive to encourage bee keeping is fine if people really learn how to treat their bees properly but when I look at that terrible bright design the words "Prince Charles, and Carbunkle " come to mind. Increasingly I find myself agreeing with him when it comes to architecture these...

Yes, picking and eating that first sun ripened tomato is one of the joys of gardening. It is one vegetable I would feel very frustrated if I couldn't grow as quite apart from the flavour, it seems to provide one of the better yields per plant than many other vegetables.

I've picked green tomatoes in a blighted area previously and they're fine for chutney but you really do have to wash them and use them immediately. If you can't get round to the task for a couple of days it can often be too late. There's also a recipe (found it on the internet) for sliced green frie...

Does anybody else feel they start to run out of steam on the gardening front at this time of year? I'm really enthusiastic and energetic in the early months after a winter's rest, but in August when everything is looking overgrown and blousy, one is busy picking and freezing and the weeds s have gon...

Have now harvested 4 out of my 5 potato containers and am wondering whether my yields are par for the course. (4 potatoes to a bag) Anya 1 lb 1 oz Charlotte 2 lbs 13 oz Charlotte 3 lbs 5 oz Kitchen sprouters 4 lb Pink Fir Not yet harvested

Woman's viewpoint - only boil enough water in your electric kettle to fill your mug, which only takes a few seconds. If you use a teabag instead of loose tea, you can pull it out and use it a second time if you want another one.

Catrina - that's so disappointing for you as I'm really impressed with my Ferlines in the first year of growing them. They are by far the biggest fruiting and healthiest of all my varieties but I suspect that even with a blight resistant variety, if the diease is rife all around an allotment, they w...

Thank you all folks. Just checked in after a week away in Sussex and you know what it's like when you get back after an absence. Grass to mow, all the darned courgettes turned to marrows despite picking anything which was even a twickling in the eye before we left, beans to pick and freeze. tomatoes...

I signed and sent the link to all my gardening friends. If they haven't signed I'll chop them off my Christmas card list !

My rosemary bush has died. I've been offered some cuttings from a neighbour's bush to try generate some new ones. If I take them now will they strike? Any advice please on how best to do this. Do they need to be taken from this season's growth? Thanks.

Have just watched the BBC iPlayer repeat of last night's programme which had a feature of a lady growing about 50 varieties of tomatoes. What an opportunity it would have been to provide some really useful feedback about the taste and flavour of some of these varieties by name. Instead, all we got a...

Johnboy - that's sad. Any dead bird is a cause for regret but I always feel that the raptors are paticularly special because of their comparative rarity. Probably another impatient motorist speeding too quickly. How lucky you are to have three buzzard nests on your plot. Bet your binnoculars are in ...

I spray Dithane outdoors but am careful not to spray in a wind and try to keep my face well away from the mist. Guess you could always use a face mask or srap a scarf around your nose if you're worried about ingesting. I try to leave any nearly ripe tomatoes several days before picking and always wa...

Gosh - eight ducklings and they're still with you eight weeks on!. That must be a record for a domestic garden and probably they've stayed because there is ample food and water available and Mum is happy they're being well looked after and in a safe place. But in a normal wild situation I would imag...

My husband had just found a way of rescuing these truly dreadful potatoes and turning them into something really tasty. He whacked them with a rolling pin, until they were partly broken up, marinated them in a metal tray with olive oil, fresh rosemary, thyme and marjoram, salt & pepper for 30 mi...