Selfsufficientish.com

thanks for that, i'll look into it.

Thanks all,..... Phil, i assume that i can pollinate the blossom by hand. ( using a small brush). I don't intend to train/prune it for the first 12 months to let it get well established. We are well sheltered here & the soil is limey, so wood-ash would seem to be a good idea.

(that is a apple tree & not a electric oven!)

Have planted a Bramley cooker tree (yesterday), i'm guessing its about 5-yrs old, judging by the girth of its base stem. So hopefully it may fruit next Autumn. Any hints,tips, etc gratefully recieved!!

I think you'll find that if they are moving into their new home, next month, then they will need a license which covers them from 1st Nov 2011, valid untill 30-11-12, when it will need to be renewed.( same as a car tax really ). We pay ours monthly by Direct Debit, & find it far more agreeable. ...

Enjoy!! Nows the time to get stuck in. Break that soil up & let the frosts kill any possible deseases, & its not too late to get the broad beans, spring greens, etc in for early next year.

Thanks Mandy, i'm raising a glass as i speak.
and thanks to all others involved in running the site.

Good ol' boy! Got my beans in about a week ago....... twas a hot sunny day, so had to sit down after and have a cold glass of home-brew!

can you interlink the 4 barrels, then fit a tap to one of them, attatch a hose & let the water gravity feed to the required location.

Let's keep the buggers at bay!!

Looks like one has just popped from "Morevika"

Nightshade, which as others have said is Solanaceae, imo. There is one that is harmelss-ish and one that is called 'deadlt nightshade' for good reason - the flowers on the latter are usually purple. Yup, definately. For some reason we've had loads of it in our veg patches this year. ( and yes, they...

Hi Paul, i could look thro' my reference book & probably give it a name, but it is such a difficult subject. There are such subtle differences between varieties that it's not safe to eat anything unless you are absolutely sure about it.

Hi Sue, we never blanche ours, we just pick 'em, slice 'em, (but don't wash 'em, as you don't want to freeze them whilst wet), then we put ours into sandwich bags, per portion for us 2. Alternatively, freeze them in an old ice-cream container.

I get on quite well with our village priest/vicar/rector-type person, who wears a dog collar......... would this count?