Is it too late to sow parsnip seeds now? I just found the unopened packet of seeds which I should have planted earlier but they were overlooked.

Planted 12 F1 courgette seeds on 13th May. First one germinated a week later, but the first was the last. 3rd June now and no sign of the other 11 germinating. Because one germinated I am happy with the compost and conditions for germination but I am not happy with the 11 which, on investigation, I ...

Oh, I love this. I haste wasting anything! HOPS: We do most of our brewing during the cooler months and because the quantity of hops from our home brew is not great - we only make up to 5 gallons at a time - they are sprinkled upon the garden and get dug in. We can pick up big sacks of spent hops fr...

Just spotted this thread and thought I'd join in. I put all our grass cuttings in the compost bins - we have four and often two (or, currently, three) are in the process of being filled. With the grass cuttings I mix in kitchen waste, shredded newspaper, tissues, anything which will rot. I have a co...

My mother used to collect sheep poo from nearby fields, put it in a big tub of water, give it an occasional stir, and when the poo had dissolved Mum would dilute some of that brew and use it to water the plants. I'm thinking of doing the same with deer poo. I just need to get out into the park with ...

Thanks Primrose. Yes, I see how it works. I found this on Amazon "Greemotion 360121 Tomato Plant Cover 0.65 x 10 m" which presumably is a tube and one cuts off an appropriate length. So the type of product you refer to is available just a matter of finding the right one so thanks, again, f...

Thanks ever so much, Primrose. We usually grow Ferline. We shouldn't let ourselves be influenced by the Marketing Men! We always plant our tomatoes in a group but perhaps we would be better to plant one here, one there, one the other side of the beans, one by the sweetcorn and so on so they are spre...

I enjoy digging and for several years I have meant to get some well rotted manure and spread it over the veg area once it is dug. Our soil is free draining, slightly sandy, and we dig in plenty of stuff, as my Dad used to do! I'm thinking that by covering it in a layer of well rotted manure the worm...

Is it me, or is blight more vigorous this year? We suffer from blight in this area (east Midlands) so we have grown Crimson Crush tomatoes this year, planting them outdoors. The plants have been vigorous, yielding a good crop of quite large, delicious tomatoes. Great for use in salad, fried or cooke...

Many thanks indeed for all these useful comments. The Nero di Toscana have recovered from their state of suspended animation after re-potting, mixing the original Godwin's compost with well rotted stuff from one of our compost bins. Their new growth looks like Nero di Toscana should do! I have used ...

As a rule we grow all our bedding and vegetable plants from seed. However, time rushes by rather too quickly now that we are both retired and we missed the chance of sowing kale. So I ordered two varieties of plants on line, plus two varieties of cabbage which I plan to grow in the greenhouse soil d...

For several years we have kept a gardening diary, recording sowing dates, progress, dates for potting-on, planting out, harvesting etc and the important bit, yield. As an example, we know exactly the dates when we have been sowing the runner beans and the sweetcorn seeds, when we first cut the lawns...

We have planted potatoes in tubs again after great success over the past few years. Hitherto frost has never been a problem but the earlies in tubs near the greenhouse have caught a frost and part of the shoots turned brown. So I need your advice, please. Should I: Earth them up to cover the shoots?...

Alan, The aphids are grey, look like thick dust. They don't fly when I ping the leaf, nor do they fall off. There are plenty of whitefly on the Brussels sprouts and there are also similar aphids on the sprouting broccoli. I noticed that some weeks ago but I don't mind sacrificing a couple of plants ...

Underside of curly kale leaves are carpeted with aphids. All the plants in our garden are the same, so no wonder the growing tips are looking sick. I have never seen so many aphids. There are 20 plants, two different varieties, all affected; we are in the East Midlands. Help! What can I do? Is the o...