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Poo, or how to make good compost

September 28, 2009
by F&F
No Responses.
What do you do when you have a week off? Today was my first day off in a while, and I spent it shovelling poo. After Toby built our compost heap from crates last year, we haven’t had to buy in any soil for the garden. But a hot-pile compost heap requ
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No use shutting the stable door…

September 26, 2009
by F&F
No Responses.
Generally, a bolting lettuce is a bad thing. The leaves are so sour you can’t eat them, and all your efforts in watering the plant and protecting it from slugs are entirely wasted. But some people grow lettuces just to see them bolt. Why?
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Seed saving

September 22, 2009
by F&F
No Responses.
Last weekend, I sat myself down and worked very hard to harvest a great deal of garden produce. But this harvest was not an edible one. It is seed-saving time, and I have got plenty of work ahead if I want to increase my stocks for next year.
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Pleasing on pancakes…and for tomatoes…

June 23, 2009
by F&F
No Responses.
If you, or someone you live with, has a penchant for golden syrup, or anything else that comes in quite such a beautiful tin, save it once greedy fingers have scooped out the contents, and punch a hole in the bottom. The resulting pot is perfect for
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Have I got pots for you!

June 13, 2009
by F&F
1 Comment
A few weeks ago, I mentioned I have a newspaper problem. They just collect in corners of the house, and can start taking over unless I put them to good use. I also have a pot problem: of the black plastic variety. There are hundreds of them, breeding
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More tea?

June 3, 2009
by F&F
No Responses.
When I was at university, one of my housemates predicted that when I was older, I would be the sort of woman who owned a collection of teapots. I remember being mildly offended by this at the time, but even so, the evil day has come, and much sooner
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Elderflower champagne

May 25, 2009
by F&F
1 Comment
Edible flowers are terribly exciting and trendy at the moment. A dash of green alkanet in your salad, or some fried courgette flowers are great fun. But even this takes second place to making your own bubbly from the fat white disk-like elderflowers
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Newspaper pots

April 24, 2009
by F&F
10 Comments
I don’t just grow plants, I grow newspapers too. Every day, a new pile of them appears next to my bed, and in the recycling box, and under my bed. This is actually rather handy, as I’m sowing seeds non-stop at the moment, and our stash of
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