15 x 40 litres = 600 litres @ £20 (delivery incl or free?)

4 x 75 litres = 300 litres @ £10 from Wickes (but not peat free) and you collect it yourself. This offer was on all last year, and again over Easter this year, but I don't know if it was just a sale then

I suppose the netting doesn't need to be put over the frame until the fruits are set - or use a netting which has wide enough gaps to let the bees through but not the birds (which is the general idea of a fruit cage)

What a brilliant idea Or use it as a brassica cage!

I very much doubt there is a "natural" way of doing it, other than dig them out. I can vouch for feed & weed for lawns to eradicate them without showing big brown gaps as can happen with other weedkillers ... it might take a couple of years, but the ratio of dandelion to lawn is radica...

You can help to break up clay by using garden lime - its action is called flocculation, which basically binds clumps together making it feel "looser" if you know what I mean. Despite what garden books tell you, it takes time (several applications over years) and ideally a job to dig in ove...

chafer grubs are common on grassland and they nibble the roots of plants which then die. I have to confess I'm not in favour of planting potatoes - there is the idea that the roots & tubers "break up" the soil, but undisturbed ground can also be infested with wireworm and eelworm (whic...

Surprisingly a lot of plants tolerate growing in raw manure to a degree or so especially cucurbits (squashes, marrows & courgettes), but you can use it as a mulch for beans, peas and most brassicas (but don't mix with lime in the same bed otherwise that will generate ammonia which will scorch th...

it's looking good, and so neat and tidy!

Toyota workers on reduced hours & pay cut at the South Derbyshire plant have been busy with a local charity to make a community vegetable garden.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/derb ... 998005.stm

What a good idea

Sometimes it could also be the compost that you use, and how you fill the pots (fill and tap the pot on the bench - don't try and push it in as you'll compress it too much) and how much water you have used. Funny enough I ended up sowing an entire packet of Sunburst (patty pan squash) last year and ...

I sow everything in modues in seed trays or in loo rolls (especially parsnip & peas) and plant out when the beds on the allotment are ready, usually selecting out the best ones and giving the others away. The only seed I sow on site are carrots.

I've just remembered I'd read something about goji berry plants that was raising some concern on a gardening forum. I'm sure if the plant has been sourced properly it won't be a problem, but here is the defra link that had everyone thinking twice about growing them http://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/import/lycium.pdf

I might be inclined to agree with Chicken on the Hill about chicken wire above & below ground level. Actually I started this post saying I only had the local cats & fox digging up and pooping on my plots to contend with, then remembered the pigeons, tried to add cabbage whites, flea beetles,...

I planted mine to protect the rest of the allotment plants from the wind as they grow to be about 8 foot high and are a sturdy plant. yes, they do grow about 8 foot tall, but they also need support against the wind! I have mine right at the back of the allotment against the fence ... no matter how ...

After growing up where you never drank water straight from the tap (a few violent episodes on the loo soon made you think twice!), we had to boil it first and often had a big jug ready in the fridge. It tasted vile, so it always flavoured with squash. It's usually just a drop to give it a hint of fl...