Can all you tadpole watchers please tell me if you supplement the natural algae food in your ponds to feed your surplus tadpoles. I always end up with far too many tadpoles for my tiny pond to support and have to keep them alive with goldfish flakes and boiled lettuce. Is there anything else I can f...

Was it Harry Dobson who did The Wartime Kitchen Garden or some similarly named programme about Digging for Victory with a lady who also demonstrated wartime rationing recipes in the Kitchen at the same time. I did enjoy that programme. I was only a very small child during the war but it did bring ho...

Yes, I had lots of new plants last summer from my small runners the previous autumn and got a very good crop from them in June/July. In fact some of them even gave a tiny second crop in the autumn. I did give them a dose of rotted manure to help them on their way.

I wonder how much vinegar and sugar was in your recipe? These igredients are both preservatives, and if it was an Asian-type recipe for chutney or pickle, these can be very light on both ingredients, as they're intended to be eaten fresh or the next day, rather than being kept for long term storage.

If you want a real horror in the bathroom department, try eating large portions of beetroot and asparagus salad!
I like ours freshly boiled with egg and bacon for breakfast.

The UK’s first Energy Saving Day is being held from 6 p.m.on Wednesday 27 February to 6 p.m. on 28 February. (The spread over two days is to allow the National Grid to minimise the risks associated with large swings in electricity demand, while allowing time for significant energy savings to be achi...

The frost may look attractive but alas,while we were away for 3 nights it completely ruined my early flowering Rhododron Praecox which had just burst into bloom with masses of pale mauve flowers. And on returning from Sussex on Sunday, we passed mile after mile of browned blackthorn bushes where the...

This morning I have sown peppers, aubergines & chillis in individual pots, to germinate on my lounge windowsill. If I have time this afternoon I plan to sow some leeks and celeriac in the deep see-through plastic containers which supermarkets use to sell tomatoes & grapes, in the hope that t...

Lovely to see your update and I too will be intrigued to discover how you get on with your cheap fruit bushes. Enjoy seeing your photos. I do like being nosey about other peoples' vegetable plots. They always seem to look much more inspiring than my tiny garden patch.

Colin - not a bad idea ! Probably this is a good way of sterilising the soil too. I once read that the best way of sterilising kitchen "wiping cloths" was to bung them in the microwave for a quick blast, so I don't see why it wouldn't work with soil. Am just wondering whether a 10 second b...

Thanks everybody. I'll hold off for a few days. Johnboy, I've always been a little puzzled by the practice of "potting on" and wonder what difference it makes to very small seedlings in terms of their growth? I sow peppers, aubergines, chillis and tomatoes in 3" pots, (two to a pot) a...

I was planning to sow my peppers and aubergines today (to germinate on a lounge windowsill to get an early start) but the sowing compost, stored in a semi-exposed potting shed area is very cold. I was wondering how much cold compost delays the gemination process and whether it would be better to lea...

My two clumps of sorrell have certainly survived the winter well and there still seem to be lots of fresh looking leaves in them. Had some in soup last week, and they also blended well in a Chinese stir fry on Friday.

After reading this I think I'll try the non-blanching method with part of my next crop - it will certainly save time. I was under the impression that the blanching process was to kill/neutralise any enzymes or other deleterious matter which may have been on the skin in its natural state (i.e. insect...

When I have surplus runner or French beans to freeze I chop them into two or three inch chunks and after blancing, dry them on a clean tea towel and "open freeze" them on a tray in the freezer until they're hard. I then bag them up into convenient size bags. It takes a little longer than b...