just re-read your post CC about digging techniques. One, only do a bit at a time (don't try to do it all at once - you'll soon tire and that's how injuries happen) and even in a digging session, give yourself plenty of breaks inbetween. I wear proper builder's type boots, and use a borders spade (i...

Double dig??? You'll find the ground should be fairly barren underneath the plastic where the grass has died back, but don't be fooled - the perennial weeds & couch grass will recover once the ground is opened up as you may well know, and all the annual seeds quickly sprout with the first flush ...

It's not too late to dig them up - raspberries are incredibly hardy. You might have to split the canes (even after 1 year they soon send shoots out) and also might have to sacrifice this year's crop by cutting the canes back (summer fruiting fruit on old canes, autumn ones on this year's growth) but...

The other week the meter man came & took the meter readings and I've been dreading the day the postman dropped the bills off. My gas central heating has been off all winter because I was hoping to cut the usage down due to the increased price hikes (but it also needs servicing & repair ... a...

p.penn wrote:Mr Penn said he was clever too as he turned the wine back into water!

Save it and put on the compost heap - it's a great activator. Now that's magic

Perhaps you could hang around a local plumbing merchant and ask any of the visiting plumbers if they had any old copper piping. They might be reluctant to part with something they can get cash from scrap metal! The only problem with putting copper piping on top of the raised bed is that slugs don't...

I don't know if it'll work but I read somewhere that slugs like to move over a smooth surface, and hate grit, so I am saving and crushing eggshells to scatter around my veg plot It's a bit of a myth that they don't like "rough" surfaces - the slug/snail's foot ripples to move forward and ...

Dave wrote:but after a fat fryer fire

I thought deep fat fryers had thermostat control to avoid fat fires! I only bought one because I thought they were safer than chip pan!

Sometimes a good pruning will re-vitalise an old fruit tree A wee word of advice about buying fruit trees - please do make sure they have compatible pollinating partners. I've seen too many people get carried away with the idea not realising that they have picked up a variety that requires a specifi...

lancashire lass wrote:Soil - all fruiting veg are more or less the same: they like rich soil high in nitrogen and also add some potash as well. When they are flowering & fruiting, treat them a lot like tomatoes (same family by the way ) and give them a regular liquid feed (eg tomatoe feed)

The key is the warm soil to encourage them to germinate otherwise they'll just not show their heads, and when they do, rather reluctantly. Thereafter LOTS of full light and warmth until they get moved outdoors after the last frosts or into the greenhouse. Capsicums do like warmth, I can't stress tha...

What a contrast It won't be long now (just 6-8 weeks ) when the spuds & onions go in, and lots of seedlings will be pushing up

I wanted to get mine going mid-January but it's going very pear shaped on the sowing side ATM as I'm feeling less motivated with the cold snowy weather. The sooner the better with capsicums. The soil temperature needs to be about 20oC, but will still germinate if slightly cooler but take longer - do...

the sweetcorn we buy, comes covered in a red dust?! Does it say "Thirium" coated on the packet? This is likely to be a fungicide to prevent damping off (when seeds start to sprout then inexplicably die - it's caused by a fungus) Wear gloves as thirium is quite toxic/carcinogenic and readi...

PS would they be ok next to the carrots!!!! Soil wise, sweetcorn need really fertile soil rich in nitrogen, carrots on the other hand do better with nitrogen poorer soil so I would not have thought them compatible in the same bed. Also, do not underestimate the growth of sweetcorn - the plants can ...