Hi,
I'm Mick, I live in the West Midlands of England. I have a small house garden and also an allotment for veg and some fruit. I know a good few names from the old place and also from new forum V1 and with the start of a new growing season I thought it would be a good time to register after an extended absence for one reason or another.

French beans with intent? 

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/...cuA3CElii0

Just got round to adding up last years chilli harvest weights. 
A very disappointing 47. 749kg . 

Hope to do much better this year. 
Last year I tried growing chillies for a particular reason and put restraints in place, so there wasn’t as much variety as normal. I really didn’t enjoy it as much. This year I’m going back to what I know & love, growing chillies because I want to, not because I have to. 

But none of that has anything to do with the amount of chillies the voles ate.  they probably got thought somewhere between 5-10kg especially Havana gold & Padron!

Hi all,

I'm wondering if you have any recipes that benefit from/require a lidded casserole?

Thanks for your thoughts 

Does anything here grow Pea beans? No, its not a typo, they seem to be another sort of climbing bean with a 2 colour shell.
I've been given 6 "Jack Edwards" pea beans https://hsl.gardenorganic.org.uk/seedlis...ck-edwards. Pretty aren't they? 
I've seen similar ones, black and white ones like little whales but not eaten/grown them.

Any advice anyone - especially whether they cross pollinate and need isolation for seed saving.

At the back of the Chiltern Seeds Catalogue is a 2 page list of Pollinator Friendly Flowers that are also useful as cut flowers  - 85 of them to be precise.
Now there's a Challenge.

You can order the catalogue at https://www.chilternseeds.co.uk/catrequest.php

I'll list some of the species names (as Chiltern have) - any variety within that species is suitable. 
Wonder how many you already grow?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-de...e-55560814

Anyone got a green roof ?
I’m considering doing one on a shed on the new site. So won’t be happening for a while.
I’d like to grow the plants for it myself from seed or cuttings. Any recommendations for varieties? I know sedum is very popular for the job but I’ve no idea which ones. 
I was also thinking creeping thyme and varieties of hawkbits would be good. 
Also suggestions on cheap construction materials. I think I’ve an idea on how I’m doing this, but I’d like your input. Fairly high chance you’ll come up with something I’ve not thought of.

Hi all,

I didn't see a place for discussion about houseplants, so here we are. Apologies if there is one that I missed (or if it's just not the done thing to talk about houseplants amongst *real* gardeners!).

I have always been a nightmare on houseplants, but I asked for some for that time of year that shall not be mentioned again for 11 months. It's been a couple years since I killed my last plant...so maybe I'm ready for the challenge. They're not in their permanent homes yet, so I don't have photos, but I'll upload some when they get settled. I got some mini plants (Vriesea ospinae, Nidularium (Fireball), Alternanthra dentata, Biophytum sensitivum, and Peperomia "Hope") from my husband's brother, and a gift certificate from his parents (which yielded Monstera adansonii, Maranta leuconeura [calathea, prayer plant], crocodile fern, satin pothos, and devil's ivy/golden pothos). My daughter's enjoying the "misting" part of the care instructions, and my husband and I are just waiting for my usual bad indoor plant stewardship to result in crispy leaves. Maybe because they were gifts and maybe because I can't garden outdoors right now, but I'm very excited!

Do you have any houseplants you'd like to share?

I received a text on my phone informing me that the UK-GOV had issued a payment of £284.76 as part of its promise to battle covid-19, with a Web site to visit to apply for it, as I am very wary of such gifts and messages, I thought I would ask on here if anyone else received this message