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I would imagine that using sweeteners other than plain white sugar would affect the flavour - which I wouldn't want. I've made 2 batches, a total of about 15 litres. That'll see me through until next year. http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/elderflower_syrup.htm

A Slovak friend of mine asked me for the difference between a courgette and a marrow. While it is clearly to do with size, I said that I would eat the skin of a courgette, but not of a marrow. Do you have a better definition of when a courgette becomes a marrow?

I think using a lot of sugar is the answer (unless you have a load of space in your freezer). I use 5 kilos of sugar for 3 litres of syrup. Not much will survive at that sort of concentration. A friend of mine here in the Czech Republic told me it is not good to collect the flowers after rain - best...

Come over to the Czech Republic and you could pick it for free! :-)

Atomic shrimp has a great idea how to use plastic bags. I try very hard not to get any but still have a drawer full of the things. But do I have enough patience to do what Atomic Shrimp did? http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/plastic_bag_recycling I doubt it. I love his website and his out-of-th...

I went away for a few days in December. When I returned, my water butts had frozen solid. They remained frozen until the middle of March (it was a pretty nippy winter in the Czech Republic. As the ice melted, it all leaked out of the massive cracks in the bottom of the butts. I was planning to saw t...

It is that time again... which is good as last week I finished my last bottle of elderflower syrup from last year - and it still tasted as good as it is did when I first made it. I think the key is to use plenty of sugar so that no bugs can survive inside. It is one of the most refreshing drinks I ...

At my local garden centre (in the Czech Republic) they sell bags of damp straw which has been inoculated with oyster mushroom spores. You leave the bag until the straw turns white (with mycellium) then make slits in the bag, through which the oyster mushrooms grow. I got a modest batch last year - a...

I'm hoping my parsnips are still okay - but they are still under 50cm of snow. We haven't had temperatures above zero since xmas. Best winter I've ever experienced! No such thing as bad weather - just inappropriate clothing (though my parsnips might disagree).

I am cooking for friends this weekend and would love to have chestnut and parsnip soup http://www.jeremytaylor.eu/chestnut_soup.htm . Alas, it is currently minus five outside (though lovely and sunny) here in the Czech Republic and the parsnips are frozen in. I wonder if I have tin of alphabet soup ...

The same is true in the Czech Republic - you bring your own bottles and containers, they press it - and you pay about 8p a litre. Could this be a service that local councils in the UK could offer? Perhaps some already do?

I have been enjoying my parsnips but now the weather is getting colder and pretty wet. I think I could leave my parsnips in the ground until February but wouldn't it be better to pull them out now and stick them in the freezer? They are less likely to be attacked by any nasties at minus 18...

Could you be more specific about 'all the gear'?

I buy logs from a neighbour who owns an area of woodland. I chainsaw them into 40cm sections and then split them with an axe. While chainsawing I wear heavy boots, thick jeans, three laters on top, special chainsaw gloves, earpads and a helmet vith a visor. When splitting the logs, I wear shatterpro...

I tried the impregnated dowel thing in a cherry tree that blew down in August. Nothing from it yet... I was more successful with a bag of straw impregnated with oyster mushroom spawn. The bag went white, I then stabbed a few holes and out came the mushrooms. It is still going after about 3 months. I...