Vole 
1 sunflower
2 lolla rossa lettuce 
1 cucumber ( The veg, not the plant ) 
1 parsley
1 aubergine          .
3 basil 
Also starting pruning leaves off tomatoes.


The cucumber munching & aubergine mutilation happen early this morning ( still hadn’t wilted when I found it ). So the little furry **** has over stepped the mark and all out war has been declared. 


No doubt mr vole will continue to run circles around me     .

I found some seed in my box.....and we're sure they would be perennials. They've appeared very quick :eek:

Does anyone know if you can tell the difference early on? They are in a seed tray so if they were annuals I would just put out in the garden in little clumps now before it's too late...

Do yours dangle free?  

Apparently, when growing cues up supports, you should set them at an angle, not straight up, as then the cues can dangle unencucucumbered and grow straight, and are easier to see. 

Works with beans too but that's another story. 

Advice and recommendations for next year please.

I sowed a few mangetout this year, they were very old seed and had two chances, just a few grew and are now producing meagrely and what is picked is rather stringy, even the baby ones.  They were cheap Lidl seeds of which I forget the name.

I would like to have another go next year and would like recommendations for a prolific non stringy variety.   I had no luck with normal peas as they were riddled with pea maggot, at least with mangetout you don't  know about the maggots 

I was "given" a container fig tree for Christmas, but it has lived at my parents' ever since. I have only seen it in person about three times, but get sent occasional photo updates. Last year, it had loads of leaves by the middle of June, but none at all this year. There are nice green looking leaf buds at the end of the branches and a few figs forming, so it looks to be alive but very behind where it was this time last year. Looking back at photos, the leaves were just starting to come in by the middle of May last year and it was looking nice and leafy by mid June.

My Mum assures me it has been watered through the dry period (including with some diluted vermijuice), so she is a bit puzzled as to why there are no leaves. It probably could do with being potted-on but for now, I've suggested she try mulching it with some good compost as that has perked up my poor pot-bound rhubarb. I suppose I could also suggest she remove all the fruit so it puts all its energy into leaf growth? What about giving it a nitrogen feed? All ideas welcomed!

I have posted this thread under weather as it is always weather related. We had a blight warning here in Kildare over the weekend so I spray my potatoes with Dithane. I also sprayed my potatoes in the poly tunnel as last year I lost a few indoor ones to blight. I also understand that tomatoes are susceptible to blight so I have sprayed them also. 

What do others do for spuds and tomatoes ?

What about chillies and cucumbers can they be affected by blight ?.

Most of you have seen this thing before. My pot wash come veg wash/ mud removal station. I use it so regularly, I thought I’d give it a little TLC ( cleaned it & painted it ) and got Bob to put a top on it for me. So now I have an outside work bench as well.

Pot wash / sink

   

Veggie washing

   

New work top

   

Used up last of the shed paint tester pots 

Hello folks
 
My strawberries are 2 years old this year, the 1st year spent in pots and this year they are in a raised bed at the plot.
 
Now I read that they should be replaced after 3 years, do you do this religiously?
 
If I were to replace them after next year should I pot up any of the runners from this year or wait until next?

A general chat thread about all things feathered (not boas!).

Hatching ducks from supermarket eggs!!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-be...s-52838747

My apple trees have got bunches of brown dead leaves hanging amongst the green ones.  Having googled it, it appears they're suffering from apple blossom wilt and brown rot.  There's no fruit either.

I believe there's nothing I can do other than prune out the dead bits and hope for the best next year,  as it's a fungus and no fungicide for home use..   No easy to prune all the bits off on a mature tree.  I don't expect any brilliant solutions, just a bit of commiseration.  We are where we are.