Selfsufficientish.com

I've never tried it but traditionally bunches of grapes were preserved by putting the stalk into a bottle of water and kept in a cool place, this way the grapes would keep for several months.

Forgot, Mangetout, Carouby du Mousanne, sowed about 8 seeds each week during June, they provide a small handful of pods every 2 or 3 days. Well worth it.

For the first time this year I have made a detirmined effort to become self-sufficient in vegetables, at least for 9 months of the year, and to produce a wide range of vegetables in succession. The only real failure has been the kohl rabi, I forgot they were brassicas and failed to protect them, the...

Thanks for all the welcomes, concern and advice, it's great to be connected to you all. Hope I can be as helpful in return.

If you got blackfly on your broad beans this year, I'd suggest you don't jump to buying some poison spray next year. This year was a bad year for blackfly, all around me people were complaining about how bad it was. On my plot my nasturiums got badly hit but the broad beans were hardly touched and a...

Interested to read the posts about sowing sweetcorn, I was wondering how it went for everyone? I had a poor start, I sow my seeds on the windowsill at work, but a mouse kept eating them. So by the time I had killed the mouse I was a couple of weeks later than usual and had only half of what I normal...

Wow, overwhelmed by so many replies, thanks to all of you for your comments. I guess I tend to go along with Ina, that they can look after themselves, but in putting them in a restricted pen, you must guarantee that they are safe and have food and water. My next question is, are there any feeders su...

The pumpkin seeds you buy (dehusked) are not actually just any old pumpkin seed. Because as you have found out, unless you have a beak like some birds, pumpkin seeds are impossible to get into. The answer is a mutated pumpkin from Austria that produces huskless seeds, voila they come dehusked alread...

Do you really have to check your chickens once or twice a day?
Surely someone has invented a food and water dispenser that would last for 2 or 3 days.
I'd love to have chickens on the allotment but I could never commit to going there every day.

I have read alot about the commerical growers developing seed types deliberately to all come toether for ease of harvest, some of the heritage varieties say this will not happen with thhes old fashioned seeds and should be better for us gardeners. I was trying it this year with cauli as an experime...

Taste depends on many factors but most important I think is picking the thing at the right time. Commercial growers obviously know when to do this. But do we and even if we do, do we want or are able to pick it that day? When is the best time to pick a carrot for maximum flavour and freshness? I've ...

Sometimes I think I must be the luckiest person in London, we have a big and beautiful allotment near central London, it is approx. 80m x 15m with a 10' high brick wall along the long side which faces due south, perfect for growing fruit to feed the squirels with. We have 2 large polytunnels and sev...