I was going through some threads when I came across something that triggered a memory and made me wonder what other foods or ways of cooking do folks miss from the past, when I was younger, (which I suppose isn't that long ago )  I worked at the furnaces in the local steelworks, one of the delicasies that we had was baked onion, the onion was coated in clay with just the bit of stem showing to let any steam out, this was then placed on a ledge next to the furnace and left to cook, when you were ready for your piece,(your break) getting that onion with a slice of thickly buttered bread was something special, I have tried baking onions in the microwave and covered with foil and cooked in the oven but nothing comes near one baked in clay, what do you miss nowadays?

A lot of fruit and veg have come from selective breeding, but some have come from crosses created by man and most of them have been around for many years, but are there any recently created fruit or veg on the market that are worth growing

Does anyone know if we have any salvia specialist nurseries? I want to get a nursery gift card/ voucher for a present and know she’s a salvia fan. So somewhere that’s got a good selection of saliva would be brilliant. I’ve had a look, without much luck. Any ideas, much appreciated.

Just found this bit of interesting / worrying information. https://www.eppo.int/ACTIVITIES/plant_qu...l_newdelhi

Need to keep an eye out next season!!

    The boss has threads about annual and perennial weeds but I would like to see a list of plants to avoid, the thing that has given me the biggest problem over the past two years is an invasive flowering plant, considered by many, myself included till last year as a nice plant to have in the garden, its one that now to me is well named, crocosmia Lucifer, a tall plant with upward facing red flowers, last year it became a bit of a problem so I thinned it out or so I thought,this year it completely swamped my flower beds     the photo shows one of the areas where I had left it but unfortunately it got too vigorous and was smothering all the other flowers so it had to come out I finished up digging out three recycle bins full of it and having a look round the garden today I have more digging out to do      there is also a couple of clumps of monbretia which are absolutely solid so they are coming out as well w and the bulbs on show came from underneath an apple tree I removed yesterday  is there any plants you would advise not to plant

For those more creative with a pencil (or crayons in Veggies case)....we will run a seperate catergory also with a £15 prize voucher.

 All you need to do is design a gardening themed Christmas card including a verse

Closing date 15th December

If you cant draw...get the children to enter there own design

Hello Folks

When chopping the fruit trees down earlier in the year I didn't realise they were holding the plot fence up!!

Anyway can anyone recommend decent, cheap, fast growing hedge plants as an alternative?

I still need to speak to the plot owner next door to see if he has any objections.

I suppose the last question is this a good or bad idea?

Many thanks
Danny

I used a computer tablet to take photos yesterday and when I tried to download to a thread on here I received a message saying that it was too big, so how do I reduce the size of a photo to allow downloading, I don't know much about computer operations so please keep any instructions easy to follow

Having read Veggie's thread about 2,000 year old dates (I think she placed them in a box and forgot about them) and I am sure there is a reference to an exhibition strain of onions coming from a packet of seeds that was in a jacket pocket for 7 years, made me wonder how many gardeners have had good results from seeds which have been well past their best by date, personally I haven't a clue as I don't keep records of seed sowing etc. but perhaps you have, or have heard of good results from old seed, if so please tell.

Well, my kitchen extension has started but I have a huge lilac that has suckered. This is coming down. We've chopped all the stems to ground but I would love to save a few plants. 

I've a lot of work to do at the moment t so I'm wondering if it's worth digging up a few clumps? Or trying root cuttings? Lots on so I don't want to waste my time trying to do it if they are difficult to take. 

I would like to put a few in at the wild area at the back. I love these for cut flowers but it is a thug for suckers and is covering about a 6ft square area.