https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gl...e-68341208

Interesting article about a commercial salad leaf "farm". Puts my 3 light gadget into the shade, literally.

I've been wondering whether I can start seeds (in pots) inside the Hotbin, using it like a heated propagator - or a Hot bed.

Today, I've sown 6 mangetout peas in 4 identical pots, filled with the same compost mix (mostly coir). 
Pot 1 is inside a sealed plastic bag, inside the Hot Bin  which is in GH 1
Pot 2 is under a clear plastic supermarket tray in GH1
Pot 3 is uncovered, alongside Pot 2, in GH1
Pot 4 is in my bedroom!

Which one will germinate first?

I've never been troubled with vine weevils in all my years of gardening, some 50  of them. I've heard of them, of course,  and felt a slight air of schadenfreude. That'll teach me!
I've a box of strawberry plants on the patio holding 7 - 9 plants and as I was tidying them up yesterday noticed many plants and runners had no roots. I put it down to  woodlice but research yielded that chookypigs don't necessarily eat roots.  Anyway replacing the eaten plants with new ones, digging a hole I find curly white grubs with brown heads in varying sizes. Vine weevils!

Any advice? Do the biological drenches work?  I'm off to Google.

   

Saw this today on FB and immediately thought of SC.

Its time to be more active and start exploring the world doing things that are a bit outside your comfort zone.
There are a few information boxes you'll need to complete, alphabetically themed , of course. 
1. Your nickname, for example, Awesome Annie
2. Who you're going with,  Angry Andy - fictional or real person.
3. Where  you're going - Aberdeen
4. What you'll be doing -  Alpine horn blowing
5.  The weather..............Awful
6. Wearing? Taking with you?
In fact anything that would tempt someone to go an an adventure with you  (or make you want to stay at home with a book).

I didnt realise you could use bluebery leaves in this way? I have two blueberry bushes in the garden but very rarely get a blueberry from them as the birds get most of them. I grow them  as an ornamental shrub mainly for their autumn foliage. They have a sentimental value as well because I got them off my neighbour who has now unfortunately passed away.
I may try utilising some of the leaves for tea as they supposedly have health benefits?

Hi all, I'm wondering if you could offer any advice for nursing my greenhouse along. It's made of aluminium supports (flat gray metal, not the green tubes) and polycarbonate glazing. It's about six years old. It no longer has any plastic in the roof after recent storms. The plastic sheets are very brittle at this point and my plan to brace them with greenhouse tape and bamboo stakes or similar will not work. The screws/bolts are all rusted, making them difficult but presumably not impossible to tighten. 

I hate plastic waste, but I guess that is my only option at the moment. I'm thinking to either replace with like panels, just expecting the same outcome in a few years; try to find a plastic blowaway cover, although the ones I've found are too small; or try to cover with poly sheeting in some fashion. Is one of these plans actually sensible?

I start almost everything from seed, so I can't imagine growing enough for the allotment without a covered space outdoors. I do have a small grow house/tall cold frame, but I don't think the capacity is anywhere near what I'd need. The thin wood panels are also peeling on the sides, so I keep it in the greenhouse to slow its destruction.

Any ideas for me to grow an allotment worth of plants without living in a fungus gnat-infested jungle for months or suddenly coming into some money and time?

The good news is " UK inflation steady as crackers and cake drive monthly food price fall". https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-68285819

"However, the monthly drop in the price of food, including items such as crackers, cake and crisps helped offset the rise in electricity and gas costs.
The 0.4% fall marked the first decrease in more than two years, with cooking sauce and instant coffee costs also easing."

We must be on the Letter C this month - Crackers, Cake, Crisps, Cooking Sauce and instant Coffee! 
Don't know about you but none of these items feature regularly on my shopping list and I wouldn't notice whether they cost less in January or more. I'd class all of these as non-essential items - apart from, maybe, coffee. Any "savings" I made from this price drop would be negligible whilst the rise in electricity and gas costs is significant. 

Which items on your food shopping list would be more representative of a food price fall? I'd choose cheese and butter, eggs, bread and dog food...and Seeds.

I didnt know this?

https://youtu.be/oP3qxFl_SXs

As it’s not just birds we see in our gardens. I thought a place for everything would be good.

I saw a stoat running up & down in and out of the stone wall/ bank at the top of the garden this morning. What made it extra special was the stoat had its winter coat on. Never seen them all white. Beautiful little thing. 

We’re going to set up a camera trap in the hopes it’ll come back.