Yesterday, I got up and my sheep had broken my electric fence netting (I had forgotten to switch the battery on). They were out helping themselves to a new hedge that I had planted last winter. I have a good dog and soon had them back but was not feeling too well lately with very painful gums and to...

Wilkinson's in my area have been going for over 80 years, I think they first started in the 1930s and most of their products are of good quality especially their more expensive roofing felts that contain glass fibre, they last for decades. I think they had a 25 year guarantee and mine have been on f...

I lifted my onions and some carrots yesterday, a little early but I want to spray the ground with weedkiller as I have let the weeds get away from me this year. The carrots were a variety called 'Topweight' and they did not disappoint in size or flavour. I have never grown the variety before and the...

Shame to hear about Wilko, I used to love popping into my local Wilko to buy seeds, onion sets etc. and they were always good value. It used to make me feel optimistic that spring was coming and I could get planting and sowing. I do hope that it can continue to trade under a new buyer.

Barney

Well done OH you deserved your fantastic day, happy birthday.

Best wishes

Barney

It is very wet here in Somerset but luckily I'm on a sandy loam that drains easily. The wet weather has helped the weeds get the better of me but has come too late for the potatoes. I'm lifting my Duke of York now and although there are masses of potatoes they are all of a very small size. Picked my...

I think the answer Colin is both as a top mulch and a compost. It is not a new idea and I used to bury fleece before planting rhubarb crowns and have used it around apple trees but have always left a space around the trunk in case it caused the trunk to sweat. My wife uses it as a mulch in the flowe...

I always sow peas outdoors and most years have had good results. This year I bought some new seed, 1/2 Kg of Kelvedon Wonder from by local supplier Mole Valley Farmers. I always sow Kelvedon Wonder and soak the seeds in paraffin prior to planting to repel rodents and this year my results were misera...

I do visit the forum occasionally. It's nice to read what other members are sowing and their results. I will try to post more often if it helps. Incidentally I can't post pictures anymore, perhaps my photographs were too boring for the forum. Stormy weather on the way here for the weekend, some loca...

I have been eating my broad beans now, they are lovely and my runner beans are just beginning to break cover whilst I notice some other locals have them already growing half-way up their sticks. Sowed some topweight carrot seeds, as OH mentioned they are an Australian variety and are very popular do...

Evening Barney, hope you are keeping well! I haven’t sown my Parsnip seed yet…I now always leave it until the ground has warmed up, and this seems to give a lot better germination and the Parsnips don’t seem any smaller, when harvested. Deer are becoming the biggest problem on our allotments and th...

I am slowly catching up with my planting this year but guess it is too late for parsnips. My early sown leeks are rather poor and my recently planted onion sets keep getting dislodged and scattered around by some pheasants that like to dust themselves in the fine tilth. I have planted my runner bean...

Managed to mow half of my lawns this afternoon during a dry and windy break in the weather. I did plant 3 rows of early potatoes last Saturday when it was drier but the ground has been soaked again so I will have to wait until the weather dries up the soil before I can finish planting. I picked up 4...

Very wet here in Somerset, the lanes around me are flooded and so are the fields. My swedes have not fared well and about half have rotted but my turnips are fine. Dug some parsnips and leaks this morning and was pleased with them. I am a little concerned about my apple trees I planted 5 years ago m...

Shame about the nibbling deer OH, I'll expect they will soon recover with you tending them. Redwings are now plentiful here, putting up with the bossy fieldfares chasing them away from the apples, I expect they will soon turn up in beautiful Bedfordshire.

Merry Christmas

Barney