... forgot to mention also

rowan berries!

I can update the wheelbarrow scenario - my friend was given a wheelbarrow for the allotment which he gratefully took. Only afterwards did he realise that it was only the rust keeping it together. Well, the bottom finally dropped out, and I now have a wheel for my skip rescued barrow!

elderflower/elderberry hawthorn rosehip dandelion chestnut (in my local park) mushrooms (Penny Bun & Shaggy Ink Cap only - because they are so distinctive and easy to recognise, otherwise I don't touch anything else) crab apple (I only know of one tree and its location is a closely guarded secre...

... the hazards of home grown food I'm afraid!

I was going to try and sow some spring cabbage, kohl rabi and turnips in peat pots about now to give them a boost before planting those out in some of the gaps that have appeared on the allotment where things came out a bit earlier than anticipated. I was also going to experiment with sowing some on...

I share an allotment plot with a friend who always sees disaster, doom & gloom in everything he does. It can get very depressing, but to be fair, he does seem to have had his fair share of onion rot, clubroot and blight. But so have others, including myself. It can be disheartening to find some ...

This week I have been prowling the streets round where I live like a territorial scavenger, desperate for lengths of wood to make raised beds on my allotment (its a tad boggy at the moment!). I kept going by one skip where I spied skirting board and in the end I decided to brave it, stop and ask! Th...

last year I left some of the marrows (long green bush type) on the plants and then harvested them in September I think. The skin hardened off a little, and basically I stored them like other squashes and used them over the winter. I was still ploughing through marrow by end January along with the pu...

Hi Ged,
for a picture, will this address help?

http://www.selections.com/GF988/paper-pot-maker

do you not have a Wilkos near you? I'm always amazed at what they do have.

As for helpful hints on chicken keeping, you are all giving me wonderful ideas. :idea:

Hi Mo, So sorry to tell you, but I'm almost certain chocolate brown patches on green leaves is unfortunately the first stages of blight! You can either dig them up, or at this early stage, I've been told you can chop the plant to ground level and leave the potatoes in the soil. I decided to dig mine...

I was made redundant 2 years and it took me nearly 5 months to get another job. Unfortunately I was only able to find a post that pays significantly less than what I used to earn, so I decided to grow my own fruit and vegetables to at least cut down on my shopping bill. I would like to say this has ...

Lime is the chemical most used to break down the clay properties. It is very effective. Follow the instructions as you can overdo it and change the pH of the soil too much. You can add compost to the soil but not manure in the first year, as there can be a chemical reaction releasing ammonia which b...

Hope everyone finds this website useful. I thought some of the questions were not that easy to give a definitive answer so I tended to give a more negative answer than it needed to be. Still, have a go:

http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/

it is all a bit scary!