My youngest daughter who lives with her family in the very warm Rhine Valley has a lovely big sunny patio and has grown tomatoes in large pots for the first time this year. They started ripening about three weeks ago (my plants in the greenhouse here in the Yorkshire Dales are only just flowering!) ...

If you break the cauli up into florets and soak them in some salty cold water for about half an hour (they may need weighing down with a plate or saucer), the caterpillars will lose their grip and float out. Then give the florets a good wash under running water and you shouldn't have any more proble...

You'll find that it has a huge root system, Geoff. We have tried to get rid of some comfrey in a place where it we no longer wanted it and keeps appearing again and again, a bit like horse radish!

Colin, I do the same as OH and have had three cuts so far this year. The plants seem to recover very quickly and throw up new shoots. I don't use them for an evil-smelling brew, though, but just put them on the compost heap for extra oomph.

Confession time: I used glyphosate weedkiller this morning on our "cordon sanitaire". Our allotment has dry stone walls on three sides and wire netting about two feet off the wall (so that the rabbits and lambs can't get scramble over the wall and straight into the allotment). The problem ...

We grow five or six sacks of new potatoes every year and I keep the compost to plant up the tubs and window boxes with wallflowers and bulbs (augmented with a bit of slow release fertiliser) and then spread the rest on the vegetable beds, expect where we are growing potatoes the following year.

John, I have had the same problem, because it was the first website I went to after switching on the computer every day. As you may have found out, there still is a metcheck.com but it provides everything but the weather!
www.metoffice.gov.uk is not bad though not as detailed as metcheck was.

Thank you Captain Carrot, that's been very helpful. I always read the magazine from cover to cover (including the adverts!), usually even those articles which are of little relevance to our garden and allotment. My personal favourites are those articles which look at other allotments or gardens, jus...

I have copied my earlier posting (to Shallot Man's "Blasphemy?") because I really would like to have an answer: Just coming back to this month's KG and the missing forum extract: I wonder why there aren't more monthly references to the forum in the magazine. The two must complement each ot...

Hello Mart, Have you tried steaming your potatoes rather than boiling them in water? I haven't boiled potatoes for years, I always steam them and they never fall apart. It does depend on the varieties, of course, but you say it happens with all of them. I understand it is also linked with the weathe...

I just have to be contrary: we had a lovely day today, at least up to about an hour ago. I did my shopping this morning which involves a 40 minute walk into town and then 40 minutes back (actually more likely 50 because I am laden and starting to flag!) and the sun shone all the way! Heard a great s...

Just coming back to this month's KG and the missing forum extract: I wonder why there aren't more monthly references to the forum in the magazine. The two must complement each other and would certainly not be in competition. Many other magazines are very proud of their websites (as KG should be beca...

Don't worry, OH, I am sure this 'cold June' has benefited some vegetables. Now that we have had the rain, ample rain at that, the brassicas, leeks and celeriac are growing like mad, whereas our runner beans and particularly the dwarf beans are definitely sulking in the low temperatures.

That's dreadful, OH, I did hope that at least some of it might be given away to somebody who would appreciate it.

We had quite a few heavy showers but nothing that wasn't welcome, by gardeners at least, though not the holiday makers huddling under umbrellas! But the temperatures are worrying: just 13 degrees at noon today and not much better the last few days. I now realise that some of our peas and broad beans...