Edible Gardening

Alderman are an old fashioned variety that don't start to flower until quite tall. They have good flavour and crop over several weeks. In dry weather they appreciate plenty of water, a good soak once or twice a week rather than a sprinkle every day.

Hiare you planting in the garden/balcony ? they wont produce any fruit in the house the " spindly finger shoot things? " are called tenderils they help the plant support it self as it grows as they will twine around twigs etc to climb ... so leave then on

@Alisa have you had any reply as yet?

If your berries are June bearers, I would remove the runners for the moment, while they are fruiting. In July, when they are done producing, I would pin the runners in pots until they form roots and then cut the runners and replant the baby plants immediately. That way they will have lots of...

First picking today, this is one root grown in containers in an unheated greenhouse:Mine didn't flower so I was fooled into thinking they weren't ready, however they are the size of bakers, should have tried pulling up one a week or so ago. Size 9 clog for size.

So next year I think I'm going to totally rotate. Leave the beds to recover a year. Thinking of getting some pallet collars, 2 sets of 2 gives me 12" I think. Which should be okay for most of what I grow. Would manure and compost be enough to develop suitable soil profile to grow in?

I had the beans in modules in the polytunnel, so can't say it was the wind for mine. Like you, I think direct sowing is the way to go - In fact, I may even try them direct this weekend.It's amazing how fast topsoil seems to disappear, and you always end up needing more that you think.

Good effort but I have a sneaky feeling that too much neglect fertiliser was used on them. A little at the beginning or at the mid bulging stage would give better results.

Well, here are a few photos showing the stem itself, the plant and another tromboncino to compare. They seem to be doing equally well, so perhaps I should just bury the split secton in soil rather digging out the plant and putting something else in?

@Selleri What happened with the Agretti last year, out of curiosity? They did not grow well? Or did they turn up not as tasty as hoped?

Freddy, my French Beans haven't grow much also, I'd leave them, give them a chance if you can.

I don't track. At work I track everything, and even have a tracker to track my trackers. In the garden I rely on gut feeling, if a spot looks like it could do with Daffodils then surely I planted some in... Advancing years give a bonus thrill when plants I definitely did not sow turn up For...

@pete thank you so much

Brassicas tend to have grey green foliage and an almost waxlike look to the surface. Lettuce tend to be brighter, more densely packed leaves, little or no visible stem, thinner glossier leaves. The top one looks more like a broccoli and the bottom one with the crinkle edge leaves looks like a...

Ever tried making marrow rum ?

@pete Thanks for the advice.

A friend of my wife's has a lot of rhubarb (which she doesn't even like!) and she gave my wife a crown last winter. I planted it in a nice, sunny spot (the soil is a bit 'clay-like' but I added some good, free draining soil to the hole before planting the crown). I made sure that the tip of the...

Funny you should ask that now! Just this evening as I was watering them, I decided that I might turn them (two rhubarb not showing any sign of life)out gently to see if anything is occurring out of sight. Nigel advised patience, so I am waiting with fingers crossed.

Thank you for all of your help @ricky101 . I will try to get some bigger pots in the future and some more compost and then look at getting some new plants.

The cucumbers will be more tender, so it makes sense perhaps that they are not doing as well as the courgettes.