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Check with your allotment assoc, ours has a deal with Dobbies, we get 50% off seeds and 10% off everything else, it makes a great difference to the cost!. Dobbies are a good company, Franchi for the more exotic, real seeds are OK , but the postage is a bit expensive if you only want a few things. Wh...

My advice 1.Take your time and enjoy yourself. If you double dig and hand remove as much root then all the better you'll reap the rewards later. 2. Cover any area your not working on, to stop weeds coming . We've been gradually working our way down our plot towards the area that was infested with br...

I've never seen so may here before, they were like bunches of grapes!. I froze mine, have made the first batch of gin/vodka mix. Still have half a kilo in the freezer. My plan is to make some hedgerow chutney with the rest along with some frozen elderberries. And I will be using the alcoholic sloes ...

Keep an eye on the pea's for signs of mice, they'll try and dug under your cloches so you should see small burrows. Mine always get devisated, the winter sown ones are more likely to get through unscathed than spring sown ones, which always get eaten. For some reason the beans never get touched. I'v...

Went on a fungus forage and we found loads of Honey fungus (in fact thats about all we found). The local guide (Dr Keith Thomas, Of Sunderland Univ microbiology, but more important the Brewlab course and co founder of Darwin Brewery!) said all fungus can have adverse reactions with people and some v...

Oh it makes a great addition to compost as well, and you can make a tea feed from it like comfry.

I "gerrilla style" threw some borrage seeds down at work a couple of years ago. They used to empoly a company which came round with weed killer to destroy anything geen, so the sides of the paths are always bare compacted earth. Which I thought was mank. With the cost cutting the said dest...

Yep, following the purchase of Pam Corbins RC preserves book, I'll admitt I've gone a bit CRAZY! So far: Strawberry jam (allotment glut) 5 jars Still making Autum Bliss Raspberry jam from current glut (I think we're up to 9 jars !!) Hegderow jelly (aka Bramble, apple and plum) 6 jars Chutney (Glutne...

I can confirm that the only thing "certo" about the stuff is that it is sh*te.

I had to buy it as the supermkt had sold out of the sugar with pectin in. I now keep a bag as a store item ready to go.

Your quite right buying seeds and growing veg is not always cheaper. But it's not just about that, it's about getting fresh seasonal, local veg, growing varities that are better for flavour rather than what keeps well on supermarket shelves. However I heard a good discussion on GQT with Peter Seabro...

Milk in bread, either liquid or dried, gives the bread a softer texture .. like baps. Exactly. And since the Brits are supposed to be all toothless wonders and unable to chew their bread, everything "has to have" milk in it. If I want bread with additives (i.e. milk, sugar, vit C etc) I d...

Well I grew some new varieties this year. Cuor Di Bue (Seeds of Italy " as recommended by Raymond Blanc"), well we think it's not very tasty, and it was the first one to show blight. Which as it turns out was a good thing it spurred me into action of appying BM, and devising a rain cover o...

I know Seeds of Italy sell Farro, which is the Italian for Spelt: http://www.seedsofitaly.com/product/367. I buy organic wholemeal Spelt flour from a local Nothumberland producer Gilchesters. They use a local stone ground watermill to produce the flour , which is excellent. There is a new contact pa...

The old advice for sloes is do not pick them until they have had a good frost (this is to help soften them up and allow the juice to flow.), however with the invention of freezers you can speed up the process and not have to wait until November.

Picked a kilo of the first of the blackberries on Sunday, these needed doing something with last night so mixed these with a few wind fall apples (they're the neighbours over hanging my garden, and said wind may have in fact been a hand occasionally! :wink: ) and tried hedgerow jelly. Simmered until...