Aha I found it! Have got the plug out and it looks pretty sooty - is it worth cleaning it up, and if so what's the best thing to use?

Hmmm, now you mention it I'm sure it came with something, but as I've moved house 5 times since I bought it I'd be amazed if I can find it. I'll try the local mower place if I can't find it.

I keep a migraine in reserve for such occasions....the minute the car has gone I'm up and doing what I wanted to do in the first place. Naughty I know but how many weddings, birthdays, anniversaries etc can a person from a large family with a partner from a large family find time for AND have a life...

My cheapo but long suffering B&Q petrol mower has finally stopped, after 1 year of mowing 2 acres of rough pasture, a year of suburban mowing but being stored outside and six months of mowing lawns and undergrowth. I think the spark plug needs replacing. The question is whether the tool to remov...

Thanks OH I'll keep an eye out for it.

There is a standard for green waste compost but i think it is mostly about temperatures achieved in the process rather than particle size etc. The poorer ones have not been screened for big woody lumps. When in Lincoln the local green waste compost was better than the big name peat frees. If you hav...

I inherited a lovely old potting shed with my veg garden. It has wonderfully weathered wood cladding which I love but it needs some protection. Is there a preservative that won't obliterate the silvered wood appearance?

Yes, after all that is what you do when you buy crowns, although whther it is worth transplanting old plants I don't know (anyone know the average lifespan of an asparagus planT?). As with most things the best time is in winter when the plant is dormant, and you may have to wait a couple of years fo...

Dried peas for eating may not germinate - they may have been frozen to destroy pest infestation (it's preferred by some processors as the chemical fumigant is a very bad greenhouse gas and quite dangerous to use), and if the peas are organic they almost certainly have as the fumigant is forbidden. T...

20 years on the same plot? No wonder your rhubarb does well!

Yes one Jack Russell is enough for me! My brother has (at the last count) 4 Newfoundlands, 1 Clumber Spaniel, 1 St Bernard and 2 Jack Russells. Guess which ones cause the most trouble? The little ones... Anyway back to barn owls, when we had the farm in Lincolnshire we had resident barn owls, it was...

Well so much for balmy Dorset! Even the privet hedge is losing it's leaves!

Managed to plant most of my spuds last weekend, and sowed some bits and pieces in the potting shed. Hopefully the milder (and wetter) weather we've been promised will come and rescue my freeze dried garden!

Ha ha ha, vajazzled hens, very good.

The worms that you get in your compost tend to be the red Brandling worms. Normal soil has a few of these, along with all the other standard earthworms. When you create a compost heap (or just leave a pile of something on the ground) these will be attracted to the waste, and then breed like crazy as...

I used to have hundreds of hens all bimbling about all over the place, very rarely lost any to the fox, despite being in foxy areas and occasionally forgetting to shut them up, or doing it well after dark. There was lots of other easy food for the foxes, either rabbits or pheasants, and because it w...