Hi Felix - following on from your suggestion, looking on-line it seems that White Clover would be best for me as the Red one seems to be more susceptible to root rots - can be a bit of a problem in wet Wales! Live near a Town and Country store so am going to see whether they have any./

Can't help you with the big ones. Nowadays I always grow Tropical Ruby, a plum variety which is on a par with Gardeners Delight for flavour, is very productive and ripens well off the plant so later on in November I can still pick, ripen and eat them without too much loss of flavour.

Hi Felix, any particular type, red, white... and where best to get it?

I am considering leaving some or all of my garden allotment fallow next year, to give the soil and myself a rest and maybe do a bit more traveling.

Any suggestions for a green manure to cover it from this Autumn for a year or so?

For my early carrots this year I grew Ideal Red and although it was not a big crop the taste was markedly better than the shop bought carrots we had the following week after finishing them. And unfortunately I lost most of my second batch of carrots to slugs - wasn't able to look after them at the t...

I had a conversation a couple of years ago with Alan Romans and he commented that there is a crucial stage when the plant decides how many potatoes it is going to grow. If it is too dry then you won't get many - I got barely half a dozen from each Charlotte that year whereas this year some plants ha...

Hi OH, Can't remember exactly the problem with Moonlight - just think that one year they didn't do nowhere near as well as previous years. Firestorm is still storming ahead - have been feeding most of the neighbourhood though the last few days of cool weather has slowed them down so that there are o...

MW - yes, Enorma flop over but that can get very untidy and cause problems with picking when they hide overripe beans at the top. I also always grow 2 varieties because as you say, conditions vary enormously from year to year. But am impressed by Firestorm, both from growing point of view - yield an...

Following on from my earlier post about these 2 - never quite sure where to post it - Firestorm is easily outcropping Enorma, despite being a bit slow to get into its stride. Indeed the later sown Firestorm are caught up with the earlier ones and are probably giving a slightly bigger crop. Which mak...

just picked my first runners and there are going to be loads!

Following on from my earlier comments re Enorma and Firestorm. The latter have caught up and have a much better set than Enorma. Tomatoes also setting well, but we have had rain here(!), though 7 miles away in the National Botanic Garden of Wales the lakes are drying up!! So I guess the humidity, et...

Hi Geoff - I invariably tie my Runners to get them started. And I have alternate string and poles and they much prefer the string as it is much thinner. This would often mean 2 going up the same string unless I persuaded them otherwise.

Yes - identical conditions. Both sown and raised in one roottrainer and planted out at the same time. Mind you, the Enorma seed was last years!

I will probably regret posting this but I have been keeping a close eye on my Broad Beans for the first sign of Blackfly, but I can't find a single one and the plants are developing very nicely after the initial Bean weevil attacks. The pods could probably be used whole but I will probably wait unti...

Enorma was voted one of the best/most realiable Runner Bean for the 20th century and I have been growing it since the late 60's. But I like to try other varieties and as it is such a staple summer crop I usually grow 2 varieties in case one doesn't like the conditions. This year I am growing Firesto...