Selfsufficientish.com

In the Czech Republic (and I presume in the UK) you can buy a bag of straw inoculated with oyster mushroom spores. You leave it in a cool place until the bag becomes white with mycellium. You then punch holes in the side and hey presto, oyster mushrooms grow out the side. Rather than buying more bag...

Thanks for the tip about eating the leaves. I'll give it a try tonight.

If they're going to be mashed, is it necessary to take the skins off? (Presuming you haven't coated them with chemicals). Why not liquidise them - saving you the hassle of peeling and putting them through a fine mesh strainer?

I had my house rewired and I have metres of old cables. I use that chopped up into suitable lengths and they twist into shape perfectly. Shame my tomatoes died when they were hit by a laste frost.

I've got about 12 apple trees in my garden and they are just producing blossom. For the last two years we've had either strong winds and/or hail at this time of year and the blossom has disappeared. I've had a modest crop of apples but I was wondering whether it might be worth trying to hand pollina...

I presume it is only the base that needs protecting?

I've had 3 wonderful crops of loganberries in the last three seasons but sadly the plants died in the severe and long winter (minus 25 over here). Is there anything you can do to protect them from the cold? Mulching? Covering them in plastic? I'm going to plant some more and hope they don't suffer t...

Quite a few people seem to take the flowers AND the berries. I love the flowers but have never been too keen on the berries. I might throw a few into a blackberry and apple crumble but on their own I don't find them particularly pleasant. Am I missing something?

I was in the UK last week and saw the first elderflowers in Kent. With the warm weather they should be out pretty quickly. My sister was here from New Zealand and she told me Elder doesn't grow down there - and they're very strict about bringing new plants into the country. Hi Susie! Good to be back.

How do people cook nettles? I was thinking of putting them briefly into boiling water and then using them like spinach in a lasagne. Anyone tried that?

I am a big fan of elderflower syrup and make plenty each year. Last week I drank my last bottle from last year's batch - and it was as delicious as the first bottle. I tend to use more sugar than other people. A friend uses about half the sugar that I do, but then has problems with the syrup ferment...

No one has mentioned a blackcurrant milkshake. Delicious!

Apple juice? You'll need a shredder and then a juice press - I make about 50 litres a year and freeze it in old juice cartons. It tastes just like fresh when unfrozen - unlike pasteurised juice which changes in flavour.

I grew a nice crop of sprouts this year but heavy snowfalls in December meant that they were completely covered in snow. Now that some of the snow has disappeared, I can now see that mice have enjoyed feeding on my sprouts with not one sprout unnibbled. What do other people do in such a situation? D...

I managed to grow 13 fair sized butternut squashes this year. All but one were the correct honey colour but just one was greenish. Left in the sun, it ripened a little - I wonder if other tricks like the brown paper bag and a ripe banana might help (which works for tomatoes). I adore the soup from b...