I am not a stranger to the reduced isle but I might try an experiment and only buy reduced food. The two criteria would have to be any meat on its last day would need to be frozen if not consumed, and on the fresh produce on the last date, only buy enough that I could eat that day or the next.

 Its not a financial ploy as I could afford full priced produce but would probably add a bit of interest to my meals. A downside would be that I would have to shop for small ammounts more frequently and my main shopping area is a 1/2 hour drive, so the financial benefits would be minimal.
One other worry I have is that I am depriving another more needy family of a meal, but there is also a likelyhood it could finish up in landfill if no one bought it?

I can't start just yet as my freezer is jam packed with produce so I need to whittle that down a bit before I start.  It also means i might have to be a bit more flexible with my eating habits as at present I have set plan for my one meal a day.  Variety is the spice of life so they say.

Morning All!
I am in the market for a large unheated propagator, something about a metre long, that has a really well fitting lid, ideally fungus gnat proof!
I quite like the look of the Vitopod with an extra side extension – does anyone have one of these or any other recommendations?
My budge could stretch to £75-£100 for something that will really last for many seasons. I have a heat mat to go underneath so definitely don’t need anything heated.

I am toying with the idea of starting an asparagus bed 3.6 × 2.0 mtrs.  I know it takes a couple of years to become established but I have the space.

My questions are

Is it worth it? ... long wait for a short harvest period

What variety is best?  So many to choose from 

Problems with pests?

Any thoughts?

I'm starting anemone bulbs in the greenhouse- nog having much luck to be honest - they are rotting and look like this - gnat larvae
   

I have yellow fly traps - I may have to resort to fly spray

I'm researching compost bins. 

The Green Johanna is classed as a hot bin, which the Council is offering at £50, a very good price,  but having bored myself silly listening to a video about assembly and what can go in it, I can see its quite sturdy but why is it called a hot composter? I can see no extra insulation and it seems just a plastic shell with a base and lid. How does the GJ get to a higher temp than any others? I can purchase a winter jacket (currently out of stock), which makes sense but without that it seems to me that it is just a normal plastic compost bin.

Anybody able to educate me? At the moment I think I'm sticking to what I've got, which is a square plastic black one with an improvised lid - the lid blew off in the recent  gales which prompted this whole process

Another thing, how robust is the winter jacket, I figure if rats can chew through the plastic on my black one, they'll  dine out on the insulating jacket thinking they can smell food inside.

Morning All

Decided to outline my gardening plans for today....

My search for strawberry plants has resulted in me receiving 60 barefoot runners which I shall pot up today. 

Plenty of weeding to be done and a few beds to cover over the plots.

Site inspection to carry out

Feed the allotment cat

But most importantly, sit down in the greenhouse and chill

The winners of the 2021 Harvest Festival are:

£30 1st Prize Winner is Mark Riga
£20 2nd Prize Winner is Small Chilli
£10 3rd Prize Winner is Pyrenees Plot

Congratulations to our winners and thank you to everyone who entered.

If the winners could please pm me and give me their preference in e-vouchers

Very well done

How do you store yours? I an just about o dig up the Dahlia tubers for winter storage and wondered what is the best way to store them. Dry in boxes or slightly damp in soil? 

All suggestions gratefully received.

.......but I wish he was!

Spotted on Facebook https://fb.watch/93GnS-Cz7j/

An idea I saw somewhere!
Setting aside a bed just for growing plants you want to save seed from. For example - a tripod for a couple of beans, a few peas...........that, once planted would not be picked but left to seed. Some squash that would be hand pollinated and bagged - or some flowers. Anything in fact from which you want to save seeds.
Its tempting, when you have a row of plants, to pick them all and forget you want to save some. When you remember, they may be the end of season leftovers that may not be the best ones to grow from next year.
Waddya reckon?