This weekend we finally had some weather that was good enough to get to the allotment. We went to do a few odd jobs and ended up spending all afternoon. In the end we managed to get the potatoes planted as well as some leeks, beetroot, carrots and parsnips. Everything has gone in so late this year due to the cold and wet weather but hopefully we will soon see something starting to grow. I still have a number of crops left to plant and will hopefully get these in the ground in the next week or so.

It has been nice this week to see a few days of sun. Whilst it doesn’t appear to have lasted very long it has meant that Penny has been able to really explore the garden for the first time. There are so many new things to see and experience and it’s really nice to see her becoming interested in the flowers and animals and running about on the grass. It has become quickly apparent, however, that the garden poses many hazards, everything gets eaten at the moment and Penny has something new in her mouth every time you look around. I think we might have to fence off a safe area of the garden to play in until she is a little bigger.

A keen gardener myself I can’t say that I have yet resorted to playing my plants music. Perhaps I am missing something, however, Chris Beardshaw, a gardening expert, recommends playing your plants heavy metal to make them bloom. Whilst plants seem to like heavy metal, music by Cliff Richard was not so popular as it killed all the plants in the experiment. During the experiment four greenhouses were set up and different music was played in each. There was one control house which was silent whilst the others had classical music, Black Sabbath and Cliff Richard. The plants that were played classical music grew slightly shorter, those played Black Sabbath were shorter still but had the best flowers and those played Cliff Richard died, although sabotage was suspected.

If this article is to be believed gardeners are thinner and tend to have a better diet. The article suggests that women gardeners are up to a dress size smaller and were 46% less likely to have a weight problem. Researchers found that exercise is not the only benefit of gardening, the home grown fruit and vegetables can also make your diet healthier. Previous studies have found that gardening carries a host of benefits such as raising your zest for life and increasing happiness. All of these things make me think that those many hours at the allotment are well spent.

The past few days have been almost warm compared to the cold and wet weather of the past few months, and I have been hopeful spring is finally here. Most of our crops will be getting a late start this year but seeing some sunshine means my thoughts have turned to planting. It is with some dismay then, that I read this article. It suggests that gardeners should be braced for a slug invasion this year as last year’s wet summer provided ideal breeding conditions. At this rate it could be difficult to get anything to grow. I might have to resort to the slug pellets.

Those that grow their own vegetables might be interested in a recent study which has found that organic tomatoes contain more vitamin C. Although the fruits tend to be around 40% smaller than those grown by more conventional methods it seems the organic alternative is healthier. The reason could be down to the fact that the plants suffer more stress as they are grown, having to fend for themselves rather than being treated with pesticides and artificial fertilisers. I do try to grow most of my fruit and veg without resorting to any chemicals although sometimes have to resort to the odd slug pellet out of desperation.

It’s always interesting when a new cat moves into the area. One of the first things they do is explore all the surrounding territory and work out how far they can go and what other cats are about. Our cats have coped quite well with two moving in just next door and now seem to have a tentative agreement as to which parts of the garden they use at any given time. This large white cat pictured right appeared out of nowhere the other day and breaking all the rules decided he wanted to stroll right down the middle of our garden. Our smaller white cat Ollie and his brother Oscar took offence to this and have made their feelings clear on the subject. No doubt the cat will be back and there will be many more battles before this territory war is resolved. It is interesting watching it all take place.

If you want to get something a little more unusual this Valentines Day then you could be interested in this gift. For £70,000 you could fill your loved ones garden with 1.2 million rose petals. Personally I can think of better things to spend that sort of money on and I do wonder how you would clear it up afterwards, but it certainly is unusual.

I am often amazed at how long some plants can go without water. The spider plants in my office being one example, despite watering only every few months they continue to thrive. This article, however, is about a bottle garden that is still alive despite having only been watered once in 53 years.

David Latimer planted a spiderworts inside the bottle in 1960 and last watered it in 1972 before sealing it shut. The plant has continued to grow and looks like this today. I wonder how much longer it will continue to do so.

We get a lot of wildlife in the garden but it’s not often we have a heron. I managed to get a few pictures when this one landed in one of the trees the other day.

One thing I have learnt from watching the foxes is that they love snow. We don’t usually see too much of them in the garden but as soon as we have a covering of snow they come out to play. This little guy spent ages jumping around and running up and down even posing for a couple of pictures.

We have had a few inches of snow in the past few days and although it’s nothing compared to the snow we experienced a few years back, at 30 weeks pregnant it’s enough to limit me going out. The garden looks quite attractive and the cats have been enjoying the weather and pouncing in the snow. Unfortunately I have been feeling too ill the past few days to build a snowman but am hoping to get to it before the snow melts.

Having an allotment plot, I’m not a great lover of slugs and spend a lot of time making deterrents and traps to keep them away from my crops. I was disturbed to read about a new variety of so called “killer slug” that it seems could be making an appearance. The slug which appears to have been imported on salad leaves from Spain can grow up to five inches long and eats among other things other slugs. It seems the coming year, then may be another battle with the slugs.

Despite having been a keen gardener for a number of years I have so far not had to remove tree sap from my hands. On removing the Christmas tree from the house it left quite a lot of sap behind on the floor and also on the hands. Finding it didn’t come off with just soap and water I looked up the best way of removing it and found with surprise that mayonnaise was recommended. After leaving the mayonnaise on the hands for a few minutes and washing it off with warm water the sticky sap was gone. This article where I found the information also contains tips on how the remove tree sap from other surfaces.

This pineapple might not look unusual but it could be the world’s most expensive piece of fruit. The pineapple is special because it has been grown in Britain using Victorian gardening techniques. Horticulturalists have created tropical conditions using small greenhouses heated with a chemical reaction between 30 tonnes of manure, urine and piles of straw. Eight of the pineapples are currently growing at a cost of £1,200 each. They have been grown at the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall in the same way since the 19th century. Despite their value the fruits will not be sold but will be harvested and cut up for the staff.

According to this article TV gardening programmes are too blame for a rise in neglected allotments as they make growing vegetables look too easy. As someone who has an allotment I am fully aware of the hard work involved in preparing and maintaining a neglected plot. It seems, however, that many people are seduced by TV gardening programmes that seem to promise fast rewards. Faced with the prospect of an allotment that needs first hard digging and then constant maintenance the reality appears to hit rather quickly and many allotment plots taken on by new tenants are being quickly abandoned.

Our local allotment association currently has the same problem. There is no shortage of people waiting for a plot but the very neglected plots are hard to find tenants for and those that do take them on often only have them for one year before handing them back often in a much more neglected state.

Perhaps gardening shows need to show a bit more of the hard and boring double digging and the constant weeding and grass trimming, which if not done at least on a monthly basis soon catches up with you, and can soon turn the plot back into a patch of brambles. I love having our allotment but easy work it is not.

The new part of the allotment is already starting to look a lot better. After a couple of days work it has already been largely cleared of brambles and we can see the ground underneath. Now starts the harder task of taking off the top layer of grass and digging out the roots. This is likely to be a long process but with any luck we will have a mild winter to help with progress.

In the meantime the task of keeping the already dug beds free of weeds is on-going. We currently only have onions planted but the potato's have been ordered ready for planting and with any luck we will have some of the new area dug and ready by the new year ready for more crops.

We have had our allotment for a while now and have gradually been claiming it back from the initial bramble patch that it was when we first took it on. A constant annoyance has been the neighbouring plot which having fallen into neglect seeds all over our plot. In a moment of madness we recently made the decision to take this plot on as well. Pictured is the plot as it looks today so as you can see we have quite a lot of work to do. I’m sure it will be worth it once we are able to plant as the growing area is more than doubled. I am quite looking forward to the new project. 

If you are suffering from a squirrel invasion this year then you might find this article useful. It gives advice on how to keep the squirrels away from your bird table. Tips include greasing poles with Vaseline that squirrels can use to climb up and coating food in chilli which is still edible to birds but distasteful to squirrels. It seems there is a shortage of nuts this winter leading squirrels to target bird tables and nut feeders for food. We have no shortage of squirrels in the garden but have quite an effective deterrent in the form of our cats which love to chase them. I don’t begrudge them the odd bit of food from the bird table if they can get past the cats to eat it.

This is interesting, it’s the unusual situation when a field of carrots were left exposed by floodwaters. The water washed the soil away from around the roots leaving the carrots looking as though they were pushing out of the ground. At least it makes them easy to harvest.

I am always amused to come across pictures of vegetables that look like other things. The most recent of these is a tomato shaped liked a duck. The tomato was found in a green house in Lincolnshire where the surprised gardeners decided to take a picture of it rather than eat it.

It has long annoyed me that supermarkets force growers to discard so much fruit and veg just because it doesn’t conform the expected size and shape. I was interested then, to see that Sainsbury’s have relaxed their rules on the appearance of fresh produce this year due to the poor harvest. It seems that we have more misshapen and ugly vegetables this year due to the unusual weather conditions and wet summer so it looks as though in Sainsbury’s at least there will be fruit and veg of all shapes and sizes.

We grow a lot of our own fruit and veg and I must admit that one of the things I like best about it, is the often unusual shaped vegetables that I find. Whilst its encouraging that some supermarkets are relaxing their rules in my opinion this should be common practice. If people want to pay for vegetables that conform to a certain size and shape then perhaps these should be packaged separately, I think I would still prefer the uglier alternative.

If you are looking for a pumpkin this Halloween then you may find it harder than usual. That’s according to this article which says there could be a pumpkin shortage this year. The pumpkin crop is down by 20% this year and many are still green due to the bad summer weather. I was hoping to grow my own Halloween pumpkin  this year but unfortunately none of my seeds actually made it into plants so if there are none in Sainsbury’s we may be pumpkinless this year.

We have several apple trees in our garden and the harvest this year has been noticeably down on the previous few years. I was wondering whether it was simply down to the conditions in our garden but it seems I’m not alone. This article claims that apple growers are facing the worst harvest in 15 years. It seems the problem has been the wet weather which has meant bees have been unable to fly and pollinate the blossoms. We have had apples this year but barely enough to eat and make a few pies, whereas usually we have a good enough harvest to fill the freezer for the winter as well as ample for eating. The pears have been disappointing as well, lets hope we see more fruit next year.

With mushroom season well under way and experts predicting there will be a good harvest year, come the warnings to know your mushrooms. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has issued a warning about the dangers of poisonous mushrooms and has warned foragers it can be easy for even experienced mushroom hunters to mix up toxic and non varieties. With some types of mushrooms being fatal when they are eaten and the poisons still being present even after they have been cooked it really does pay to know your mushrooms and if in doubt leave it well alone.

Many crops seems to have suffered this year due to the persistent wet weather but it seems mushrooms are not one of them. The wet summer followed by recent sunshine appears to have created the ideal conditions for mushrooms. If you know which varieties to pick, it seems now is a good time to head out for a bit of foraging. Unfortunately my knowledge of mushrooms is fairly limited and I’m a little worried I will accidentally pick a poisonous variety.

The world’s longest parsnip has recently been exhibited  at the National Giant vegetables Championships. Measuring 18.5ft or 5.607 metres the parsnip is 36 times the size of a normal parsnip. It was grown in a pipe in order to encourage it to grow long and thin. It certainly is a long parsnip but I’m not sure it would be that appetising being so spindly.

This weekend saw the Sevenoaks Allotment (SAHA) Autumn Show. As our allotment is still in the early stages I hadn’t submitted any entries this year but was keen to go along and look at what was on offer.

The poor weather conditions this year have proved challenging and this showed with some categories being a little thin on the ground.

There was none the less some impressive vegetables on show, the the biggest pumpkin and the heaviest onion being some of the highlights for me.

The onions category certainly had some good sized entries although one or two of this years specimens from our allotment might have made the grade.

The beetroot and French bean categories had quite a few entries with some looking a little undersize in my opinion.

One of the more unusual categories was the children’s animal made entirely from fruit or vegetables with this little critter winning first prize. Perhaps next year Penny might be able to make an entry. Either way I will certainly try to enter something in next years show.

If you have ever wondered what the best lawn in Britain looks like, then you need wonder no more. This lawn has been awarded that title. Chisholm Ogg spends anything up to ten hours a day tending to his lawn and it does look pretty good. One thing that struck me, is there is not a weed in sight, something to aspire to perhaps, although I don’t think I can justify spending that much time on my lawn.

This is an interesting article about cooking with Lavender. There are quite a few ideas including lavender crème brûlée and lavender with new potatoes. A few things that I haven’t tried like lavender inside sea bass or red mullet sound as though they might be worth a try. By far, my favourite recipe continues to be lavender biscuits. There are certainly a few ideas here I will trying out whilst I still have some lavender flowers left to use.

This is a nice story, it’s about a couple in North Yorkshire who spend their time covering their house with flowers. The result certainly looks colourful, it must have taken ages to create, but thankfully they have installed an irrigation system to help with the watering.

This year has been disappointing for many crops with the constant rain, meaning a lot of things have simply rotted in the ground. We have been lucky with the potato crop. It has been unaffected by the blight that seems to destroyed some crops at the allotment. We have new potatoes, and baking potatoes by the bucket load at the moment and it will be a challenge using them all before they go off.

The runner beans at the allotment are just starting to be ready and there is a bagful every time we go to water the crops. We have had a good crop of the smaller and sweeter French beans from the garden and as I personally prefer these to the runner beans I think I will plant a few rows of these in the allotment next year.

The courgettes are also starting to produce fruit. We only have 6 plants this year, down from last years rather excessive 10. The resulting crop gives us one or two fruits every week and I have rediscovered my love for them after getting a bit sick of the glut last year. So far the tomatoes have been a little disappointing and I’m unsure whether there will be much of a crop at all again this year.

We have a fair amount of damsons, plums and blackberries to collect both from the garden and the allotment and jam production is very much underway. At this rate I will enough jam to see us through the winter and that’s before the apples are ready. 

I was testing out a new lens for my camera and was lucky enough to catch a sparrowhawk in the garden just as he caught his lunch. They do hunt in the garden quite regularly but this is the first time I have been able to catch one on camera.

We have had a really good crop of strawberries and raspberries from the garden this year, despite the wet conditions. As there has been too much to eat I have been making it into jam. The fruit doesn’t go very far and we tend to only have one or two pots for each bowl of fruit but it should keep us in jam for a few months. After my basic strawberry jam, I have made a rather successful strawberry and chill jam. I also made a few batches of summer fruit jam, mixed strawberry and raspberry. By far my best jam yet, however, was an experimental morello cherry and raspberry jam. Surprisingly the bitter flavour of the cherries and the sweetness of the raspberries creates a nice slightly tart jam. I would like to make more of this but the cherry harvest has been limited and I think it will prove difficult to source bitter cherries in the supermarket.

A new project hopes to build up a picture of the UK’s bumblebee population. BeeWatch has developed a tool which it hopes will collect vital information on the UK’s bees. The tool lets people upload a picture of a bee which can then be identified by an expert and the location recorded. 24 species of bumblebee are found in the UK and up to six different species are often found in each garden. I must admit I have never really looked very closely of bees but I will certainly be out with my camera taking a few shots to see which species are frequenting my garden.

That’s the findings of a study which looked at the roots of pot plants. The research looked at MRI scans of various pot plants and found that plants restrict their growth when they are in a pot. The roots are able to sense the size of the pot and restrict the growth of the plant. Within as little as two weeks the plants roots are able to stretch to the edge of the pot and from this time onwards the growth is restricted. Re-potting a plant into a pot double the size results in the plant growing half as big again. Unfortunately, however, even the largest pot is not large enough not to limit growth. It seems then plants should be in the ground. I feel a little guilty now and will be re-potting all my indoor plants to give them bigger pots. The outside ones I will have to find spaces for in the ground.

We have finally put the beans in at the allotment. They are quite late this year, having only been planted 3 weeks ago. This time last year I already had them in the ground at the beginning of June but once again the wet weather has set us back. Hopefully we will still get a decent crop despite them being a bit delayed. On the up side we should have passed all risk of frost.

The vegetables in the garden have also suffered due to the rain. I have tried seeding beetroots, carrots, parsnips, rocket and radishes. It seems, however, that too much rain is as bad as none at at and nothing has come up at all. This means I have a fair bit of space in the vegetable patch. I think I will take advantage of this and buy some mature tomato plants to fill the gaps.

I have been a little cautious with the courgettes this year and have only grown 3 plants. Last year we had ten plants in total between the garden and the allotment and we had way too many courgettes, in fact I still have lots in the freezer even now. I’m hoping my 3 three plants will provide enough fruit for us to have one or two a week rather than the bags of 15 to 20 we had last year. I do like courgettes but everything is better in moderation. The plants this year will be going in the garden vegetable patch as they require a fair bit of water so will be easier to maintain at home.

The recent rainy weather has meant that staying on top of the weeds in the garden and at the allotment is something of a losing battle. It has only been 3 weeks since I last visited the plot at the allotment but it looked like it had been neglected for several months. I spent a day weeding and cutting down the nettles and it is just starting to look good again. The potatoes are coming along nicely and now have flowers on them. The onions i planted in October have now got to a decent size and I was able to harvest the first few. I am really looking forward to trying them as I have never managed to grow good sized onions before.

I love making jam so always look forward to the summer fruits. My first effort this year was a strawberry jam. The fruit was too good to waste and so I held off trying experimental flavours and just made a basic strawberry jam. I mashed the fruits to leave some nice big chunks of strawberry in tact. I am looking forward to trying some on my toast in the morning. Perhaps i will add a hint of chilli to the next batch.

This is an interesting article about the recent alarmist reports of giant foxes. The article dismisses recent claims of foxes as large as Alsatians, as well as claims that it is only a matter of time before a fox attacks a baby. It claims that such stories are dreamed up by hunting lobbyists who are looking for an excuse to further their cause. The view of the author is that foxes are simply small, inoffensive creatures that cause very little harm to anyone.

Personally I think one has to take the middle ground here. We have a large number of foxes in our local area many of which spend their time in our garden. One rather large male fox is the size of a small dog whilst the females are little bigger than the cats. They are for most of the part shy, retiring creatures and when you come across them in the garden they tend to go out of their way to avoid you. Saying that, I would, obviously not be leaving my six month old daughter unattended in the garden just as I would not leave her unattended with a domestic cat or dog. The foxes can be something of an annoyance, they keep us up at night with their screaming, dig up our vegetable patch, poo on the lawn, steal any attended shoes and chase the cats. Generally though, I like, rather than loathe them. They are part of living in country but like any wild animal they need to treated with a certain healthy respect.

I have long been a fan of hedge animals but have lacked a suitable hedge to create one. This hedge car is a little more unusual. Based on a Formula One car it recently won gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show. Now can I persuade my husband we need to make a hedge car?

Progress at the allotment has stalled somewhat due to the recent wet weather. It has rained everyday for the last three weeks, which makes getting any work done rather difficult. The rain means that the weeds are growing thick and fast and the garden looks so green and lush. It really is becoming a jungle out there. I’m hoping we will soon get a couple of dry days to make a dent in the weeds and perhaps get a bit more digging done. A lot of veg is likely to be delayed this year as I lack an covered outside space to pot up the seeds. Fingers crossed this weekend will see some progress.

I spent some time digging over the vegetable patch in the garden ready for planting and last weekend started to seed some areas. I already have a line of asparagus growing which I had thought we might have lost in the winter. I can now see little spears of asparagus emerging from the soil so it looks like it is coming along well although being a long term crop it will be another year before we harvest anything from it.

The raspberry canes I planted last year are coming along nicely with lots of new growth so I am hoping we will see a good harvest this year and all the fruit trees are covered with blossom so I have high hopes of a good harvest. I  have planted some potatoes in the garden and some parsnips and beetroot. I’m hoping the crops will do well this year despite the obvious challenges of watering during a hosepipe ban. As things start to grow I will post a few pictures of the emerging crops. With a small baby I am hoping we have a good crop of organic veg this year as it will help with all the purees and baby food I am currently making.

According to this article the bluebell season this year could be early this year and much shorter than usual. This is due to the dry weather in the south east that means bluebells will flower less and their growth is likely to be stunted. The common bluebell is now a protected species in the UK because it is under threat from the Spanish variety often planted in domestic gardens. The National Trust is asking people to submit their sightings of bluebells on the following website so that they can build up a picture of where they are found. I have quite a few coming up in my garden and will be submitting my photo once they have flowered in a day or two.

We spent yesterday afternoon taking the top out of one of our tall trees. It had to be taken down in several segments due to it’s location next to several outbuildings. You can see the finished tree in the picture on the left. We were surprised to find some damage to the trunk once we had taken it down (pictured right) which we can only assume must have been caused by lightening.

I was unaware of the Shed of the Year competition until I saw this article. This one is based upon a pub. Others have been turned into churches, railway stations and even a Tardis. They are great, I wonder what I could turn my shed into.

It is getting harder to find time for the allotment now that we have Penny but that doesn’t mean there is any less work to do. We are lucky that we can leave Penny with the grandparents whilst we spend a few hours on other things, so we took the time to start preparing the beds. The onions (right) seem to be coming along well and last years leeks (left) are still growing. Other than that it’s a case of digging over the beds that have already been double dug and covering them with carpet to prevent the weeds coming through. We have also pruned the damson trees and taken out some of the smaller suckers. In the coming weeks and months we will gradually start to double dig the rest of the yet untouched ground. Between the allotment and the garden vegetable patch I am hoping to grow the majority of our vegetables this year, something which should help out when we come to move Penny onto solids.

There is still time to register for the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch which is this weekend. All you need to do is register your details on the website at the following link. http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/  Then just spend an hour recording the birds that visit your garden on either Saturday 28th or Sunday the 29th. When you have finished go back to the website and submit your results. The results help the RSPB to get an idea of the numbers of different bird species in each region so they can see how they are doing and spot any problems with decline.

I was lucky to find some quince in a hedgerow the other day. Although there was not really enough to do anything useful with, I thought I would make them into a jelly. I did only get a very small pot but it tastes wonderful and is so simple to make. It’s just a case of boiling the quince until soft, straining them and then adding sugar before boiling to the setting point. I’m sure the jelly will get eaten very quickly.

This week has brought the first corn from the allotment. So far I have eaten them boiled on the cob with a nob of butter but with plenty more coming will no doubt be looking for new corn recipes soon. I do plan to freeze about half of the crop if I can so I have plenty of veg to see me through the winter.

My latest courgette experiment has been courgette chutney. The courgette jam was a lot nicer than expected so flushed with success I decided to try a chutney. I used a good 10-14 courgettes chopped into small pieces some tomatoes, a couple of onions, a few pints of cigar vinegar and a couple of bowls of brown sugar. This was all boiled until thickened and actually smells quite nice. It needs a few months to mature so the final taste test will have to wait but its looking like a good way to use up a large batch of courgettes. Now what to do with the other 30?

After a few months of eating courgettes for pretty much every meal, I am exhausting the recipe possibilities. Having tried many of the nicer sounding ones I came across an idea for courgette or marrow jam. I haven't really made mine to a recipe but have basically used about 15 courgettes and a good sized piece of root ginger which I chopped and boiled until tender. I then strained the courgettes through a sieve and added the equivalent weight in sugar before boiling to the setting point. It’s an unusual taste similar to a marmalade but is quite tasty. I still have many more courgettes so might make another batch although I do also have an interesting chutney recipe I might give a go.

With both the allotment and the vegetables in the garden coming along well we still have no shortage of vegetables. We are still knee deep in courgettes despite me freezing a massive batch. The latest crop to be to ready is the runner beans and once again there are far more than we can hope to eat. I spent an evening processing them by blanching them for about 2 minutes in boiling water, cooling them and bagging them for freezing. We now have a freezer full of beans and courgettes so there should be plenty to see us through the winter.

According to this article our garden birds are currently being hit by an avian pox virus. The virus which leads to warty tumour like growths on birds has been affecting a wide range of birds including dunnocks, house sparrow, starlings and wood pigeons. The worst affected birds, however, seem to be great tits which seem to suffer from much more severe infections. Conservationists are calling for member's of the public to help track the spread of the disease by looking out for birds with symptoms and reporting them to the RSPB Wildlife Enquiries Unit on 01767 693690. It is thought the virus is spread through direct contact between birds and also indirect contact via perches and bird feeders where the birds congregate. You can help by keeping any bird tables and birds feeders disinfected to try and prevent the spread of any disease.

I spotted this interesting looking plant at the allotment the other day and not knowing what it was took a picture so I could later identify it. I was guessing from the colour that it would turn out to be something poisonous and after looking up poisonous red berries on Google came up with this. It seems it is something called Arum maculatum or more commonly known as wild arum or Lords and Ladies and cuckoo pint. The plant I found didn’t appear to have any leaves as such (the leaves in my picture belong to surrounding plants) and the plant was formed of a single stalk. It appears the berries of the plant are extremely poisonous and can produce allergic reactions such as irritation of the skin, mouth and throat, difficulty in breathing and upset stomach.  Based on this I won’t be handling it but it certainly is a very attractive looking little plant.

I harvested a huge batch of damsons and blackberries from the allotment where we have both growing wild on our plot so decided to make some jam. The damsons were washed and put into a pot with about a pint of water to boil. Any bugs float to the top so are quickly removed. The damsons quickly cook down to a pulp and then all you need to do is remove the pips, add the sugar, approx. 500g to the same amount of fruit and bring back to the boil until it reaches the setting point. The blackberries were processed in much the same way. I salted them first overnight in warm salt water to draw out any maggots. Then boiled them in about a pint of apple juice until soft. Drained them through a sieve to remove the pips. Added the sugar, I used jam sugar here with the pectin already added, and boiled until the setting point was reached. Both jams taste fantastic, the damson jam is a little on the tart side but nice and the blackberry is just the right sweetness without being too sickly. The best part is it was all made from free fruit.

With both the allotment and the vegetable patch in the garden coming along nicely, we have a ready supply of vegetables. One thing that has been really successful this year is the courgettes and we really do have many more than we can ever hope to eat. Having given lots away to all the neighbours with a lot still left over I decided to freeze them. I processed over 40 courgettes in batches, by first peeling then and cutting them into small chunks. Then I boiled a pot of water and blanched them in batches for just a minute before draining and cooling them. They were all packed into small zip lock bags and frozen and should keep me in courgettes for the winter. The next job is to do the same with the turnips.

If your garden vegetables are showing symptoms similar to that shown on the left then they might be a victim of something called aminopyralid poisoning. The problem is caused by the residues of a hormone mimicking pesticide called aminopyralid which is used by farmers to kill weeds growing in fields of grass.

Government approval for the pesticide was suspended in 2008 after cases of cross contamination but it appears farmers are still able to use it under strict guidelines. This includes spraying it only on fields which are grazed directly by cattle and not on fields where silage or hay is grown. Manure from animals kept in the pastures should be used only on the farm and farmers must confirm in writing that they have been instructed in the use of the pesticide and in manure management issues. All of these measures should be enough to prevent further issues of cross contamination but it appears this is not the case.

The article highlights the case of a market gardener who lost their entire crop of vegetables to this curling disease. The problem was that the manure they had used was contaminated. It seems that somewhere in the process someone had not followed the stringent guidelines related to the use of aminopyralid. It seems many cases of this poisoning are simply put down to other factors such as poor weather and diseases and so go unreported with many gardeners unaware of the problem or indeed the real reason why their crops might have failed. Reading this I am reluctant to purchase any manure without knowing where it has been sourced from and think I may stick to simply using compost from the garden.

We have just picked the first raspberries from the garden and they really are tasty. Whilst there is not really enough to make much with this year they have done much better than I expected. In fact as it I only planted them this year I was not expecting any fruit at all until at least next year. The crop whilst not huge is enough to eat with dessert or just on their own. The plants are already producing new runners so lets hope for a bumper crop next year and perhaps enough to make some jam.

Things are coming along nicely at the allotment with the potatoes just beginning flower. The sweet corns are growing fast and the runner beans appear to have picked up despite being damaged by a late frost. Currently the bulk of the work consists of keeping on top of the ever growing weeds. We are also gradually clearing the back part of the plot in preparation for more crops next year.

We have just had a new cat move into the neighbourhood which is causing a bit of excitement in our four cats household. The new cat who lives next door has been trying his best to make friends with our cats without success. He has been visiting the garden several times a day and has been popping in to help himself to a snack (pictured left). A few days ago we found him trapped inside the kitchen unable to get out. So far our cats remain unimpressed. They have made it clear that they hate their new neighbour and do not appreciate him visiting. It seems they also take a dim view of sharing their food. We are currently looking into purchasing a new cat flap that works with our cats microchips. Hopefully this will stop the visits inside the house but as for the garden I guess they will just have to learn to get along.

If you have the time then smoking a chicken is a very flavoursome way to cook it. We use our kettle style BBQ to do this and generally leave the chicken cooking for about three to four hours although it can be usually be left all day if needed. The trick is to get the coals  nice and hot. Place a aluminium dish of water underneath the chicken. Stuff the chicken with a few fresh herbs to add flavour and drizzle with a little oil. Then just close the lid and let the smoke do the work. Check on it after a few hours to make sure the fire hasn’t gone out and if so relight it or add more wood. We served it with a garden salad and some potato salad made with the first crop of early potatoes also from the garden.

Astronauts and a team of scientists have managed to grow two small plants in space. The plants were grown in small greenhouses without gravity and using special water, soil and light techniques. The experiment which was part of a food growing trial was hailed a success when two out of fourteen seeds successfully germinated and produced plants. Although it has been seen as a crucial step in providing food and oxygen for long space missions two out of fourteen plants doesn’t seem a huge success rate to me. Perhaps it is still early days but I would normally expect at least half of all seeds to produce plants.

This is interesting, it’s a 200 year old Bramley tree from which every Bramley has originated. The tree from which over 2 million other trees are thought to have originated is still growing and producing fruit despite having once being blown over in a storm. In fact Every Bramley grown today is a direct descendant from this one tree. Amazing stuff.

One crop that has done really well this year is the courgettes. I am particularly pleased with them as I grew the plants from seed in the greenhouse and it is my first attempt at growing them. The plants are covered with flowers and we are just starting to pick the fruits. The fruits themselves are a good size, and whilst some are rather odd shapes, that’s the beauty of growing your growing your own vegetables. The question is now, what to do with them all? Do you have a favourite courgette recipe you want to share?

Since we took on the allotment we have been steadily working away and from it’s beginnings as a bramble patch and we now have some crops planted and growing. When we took it on, I couldn’t see that we would have anything planted this year so I am quite pleased with the progress. We currently have potatoes, baby corn, sweet corn, runner beans and butternut squash growing. We have cleared the front of the plot and are starting to gradually work towards the back which is still covered with nettles. The aim for this year is to get the rest of the plot clear and dug ready for a serious crop of vegetables next year.

Between the vegetable patch in the garden and the allotment I have my hands full at the moment but it doesn’t seem such hard work once we start eating the things we have been growing. This week we have peas, turnips, radishes and spinach ready, as well as the never ending crop of strawberries, which are really sweet this year. The radishes are just coming to an end and in retrospect I did plant too many, so some will probably end up in the compost. I did make an unusual radish pickle to use some up but the rest were mainly eaten in salads.

The peas are so sweet that they are best eaten on their own with the minimum of cooking required if you can resist them long enough not to eat them straight from the pod.

The turnips have so far been used in casseroles and in spicy turnip mash which goes with pretty much anything.

Spinach is one thing I tend to use a lot of and I think I might plant another rotation when the first batch has finished. I made a lovely spinach and ricotta cannelloni with it the other day and it’s also really good mixed with cheese and used to stuff chicken breasts.

I had another disappointing year with the onions, they just don’t seem to like the soil in the garden, so I think next year I will try growing them  at the allotment to see if I have better results. I am really looking forward to sampling the courgettes which should be ready towards the end of this week or early next. They are growing really well so we should have a good crop of them this year, I must dig out a few more recipes in preparation for the harvest.

This is interesting its a towel that has speakers built into it so you can listen to your iPod whilst you are sun bathing. Called the hi-Sun it includes a removable soft cushion with built in speakers inside. The speakers are powered by a long life lithium battery that is charged through an integrated USB port. These are attached to a 3.5mm universal jack for your iPhone or IPod. If you want one it is available in blue, red, pink and black and costs £54.99.

According to this article Britain’s butterflies are experiencing something of an increase. It seems more open woodland and climate change is good for some species of butterflies. Although butterflies are still in long term decline, last year three quarters of at risk species  saw an increase in numbers. The main factor behind the improvement appears to be targeted conservation action such as leaving open glades in woods for flowers to grow. Better weather last year was also an important factor with a warm summer meaning butterflies had a period of successful feeding and a cold winter stopping butterflies emerging too early. The brown argus is one species that has benefitted from climate change, moving into new areas as it has shifted to feeding on a species of geranium that has become more available in the warmer climate. The wood white also saw numbers increase last year by 600 per cent and the marsh fritillary saw numbers more than double in the same period.

According to this article we could see a shortage of British plums this year due to the recent weather conditions. Late frost followed by high daytime temperatures has apparently led to 80% of the plum crop being ruined on some farms. Whilst we do often see May frosts, the recent ones which have been combined with exceptionally dry and warm and weather appear to be bad news for plums. Other crops such as apples, pears, raspberries and gooseberries on the other hand should benefit from the conditions and for these fruits we should expect a bumper crop. Looking at my fruit trees they all seem to have a good crop coming along, even the plums, so I will have to wait and see what sort of harvest I get.

That’s the message from the RSPB after the recent dry spell. It seems that the RSPB have received a lot of calls to report swallows and martins searching for mud to repair their nests. With the dry weather, however, mud supplies are not readily available. The RSPB recommends putting out a shallow container such as a dustbin lid full of mud or creating damp patches around the edges of borders and ponds for birds. Swallows and martins rely on mud in order to build new nests and make repairs to old ones. Without the right materials available it can affect their chances of breeding successfully, particularly during these dry spells when martin nests dry out and fall to the ground with the young still inside. It’s not something I really considered but I will be off to make some muddy areas in the garden.

If this article is to be believed we should see an abundance of strawberries this summer, and not only will there will be more of them, they will be much sweeter than usual. According to the article it is down to the warm weather we have been experiencing meaning that British strawberries will be ready weeks earlier than usual. It should mean we see the best English strawberry crop for around 30 years. The weather also means an increased sugar level making the fruits sweeter and juicer than usual. I have certainly noticed a nice crop of strawberries coming along in my garden. At the moment it’s too early to see what they taste like but I am looking forward to trying them.

The allotment is gradually progressing. From it’s initial bramble patch a month ago it has really started to take shape. We now have beans and potatoes in the ground and will soon be ready to put the sweet corn in. A couple more weeks and we should have the top part of the plot double dug and ready for more crops. We are leaving the bottom half wild for now, to give us a shaded area to get out of the sun and also to see what sort of crop we get from the damson trees. It’s certainly encouraging to see how far it has already come.

Personally I wait for the first sign of sun and feel it’s time to get the BBQ out. It’s just really nice to be able to eat in the garden in the fresh air. It never fails to amaze me, however, how many people fail to do a BBQ correctly. I have been to many where the food is blackened and over done or the other extreme where it is crispy on the outside and raw in the middle and at best if the food is cooked it is often very bland. If you struggle with any of these issues then this article might be worth a read. The trick is to get the BBQ really hot, at the point where the coals are grey before adding any meat. Marinade any meat such as chicken overnight if possible to give it extra flavour and baste it whilst cooking. Burgers and sausages do not need to be black before they are done, in fact they need very little cooking time, just cut into the middle and check they are no longer pink. My personal favourite so far this year has been grilled prawn skewers but watch this space there is still plenty of the summer left.

According to this article a network of green corridors or ”bee roads” is planned to try and help boost the insect population. Under the scheme wild flowers will be replanted alongside roadsides, fields and houses to create green corridors where insects can feed and move around the country more easily. The article claims that the UK has lost more than 3 million hectares of wildflower habitat since the Second World War, leaving insects with nowhere to feed. Gardens are often not rich enough in native nectar rich flowers. The loss in habitat has had an impact on the numbers of hoverflies, bees and butterflies causing many species to decline. The Co-operative supermarket is recreating areas of wild flowers and nectar rich plants such as lesser knapweed, field scabious and birdsfoot trefoil. These will be planted anywhere from parks to playing fields with farmers and other landowners being asked to sow wildflowers as well. It is hoped that they will eventually stretch north to south and east to west across Yorkshire, restoring a total of five hectares in the £60,000 pilot project. Ultimately it is hoped to roll the project out across the whole country allowing insects to thrive and reducing decline. It seems like a really good idea. Personally I have left a number of wild areas in my garden where I encourage the wildflowers to grow. Not only are they very pretty but I have an abundance of bees, hoverflies and butterflies in the garden.

We have spent a couple of days at the allotment now and as you can see by the picture we have managed to clear most of the brambles. We can now walk on the plot which is an improvement and the really hard work of clearing the roots and double digging the soil has started. I am, however, encouraged by the progress we have made so far and hope to have something growing in it within a few weeks.

In a moment of madness I have recently taken on a plot on an allotment. Not that you would currently know it is an allotment. It is currently covered in waist high brambles and nettles and even has a few established trees. Having spoken to other people at the allotment the plot has not been touched for around 10 years. It’s certainly going to be a challenge to get it cleared. We did make a start yesterday clearing the worst of the brambles. I estimate it will take a few more days before we clear the rest. Then comes the really hard work of digging all the roots out. I am hoping to get a small patch dug over in time to plant some potatoes. Although the allotment will be a challenge it is encouraging to see it coming along slowly.

I came across this interesting article about the benefits of gardening. It seems it not only makes you feel younger but will also help you to exercise and tone your physique. We have a large garden that takes up a lot of my time so it’s good to know I am getting some other benefits out of all that digging and weeding I keep doing. The article suggests doing at least 30 minutes of gardening a day for a beneficial workout and using as little machinery as possible. With 45 minutes of gardening burning as many calories as 30 minutes of aerobics I should start getting very fit as I dig my new vegetable patch. Just out of interest digging for 30 minutes burns off approx 202 calories whilst weeding burns about 182 and raking burns 162. Time to get out in that garden I think.

This is interesting its the past time of collecting snowdrops. Apparently there are around 1,500 different hybrid variations of the plant which may look the same at first but contain subtle variations. One rarer specimen the Galanthus plicatus EA Bowles recently sold for as much as £357 on eBay. There is also an annual Galanthus Gala where collectors come to bid for varieties that are not found in catalogues. Unfortunately the recent interest in the plants has started to attract flower thieves and there have been many cases of them being stolen from parks and private land. I’m not sure collecting plants holds much interest for me but if you are interested it is recommended you purchase from reputable dealers or specialist auction houses.

According to this article hedgehogs could be at risk unless we take methods to save them. One suggestion is to create hedgehog friendly zones in communities to increase the areas over which the creatures can roam. This would involve householders linking their garden by creating small holes in shared walls and fences to increase the areas over which the animals can roam.

Hedgehog numbers have dropped steeply over the last decade, with the decline being blamed on the fragmentation of their habitats by road and house building schemes. Thousands of hedgehogs are also killed on the roads every year. The People's Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) is now mounting a campaign to try and reduce the decline. As well as allowing hedgehogs to pass between properties, householders are also being encouraged to provide suitable hibernation areas in their gardens and provide conditions that attract insects such as log piles of leaves and areas of long grass. I will certainly be doing all of these things to see if I can attract some hedgehogs to my garden.

This interesting looking tree has been created in a garden in Somerset. it has taken the homeowners six years to prune the trees into the perfect Christmas pudding shape. It took them an additional two weeks to create the robin which sits on top. It certainly is impressive.

According to this article gardeners could soon be banned from using peat. Ministers want to force gardeners to use more environmentally friendly alternatives rather than taking more peat from bogs. The problem is that millions of tons of greenhouse gases are released from disturbed peat bogs each year. Rare plants and animals are also at risk because peat is often stripped from bogs more quickly than it can be renewed. Many garden centres already sell peat free alternatives but many gardeners and growers feel these are inferior and so would not support a ban.

If you are looking for something a little more unusual for your garden then you might be interested in this black petunia. Called Black Velvet it has been developed using natural breeding techniques to turn the petals a dark colour. They will be on sale next spring for around £2 to £3 a plant.

I thought we had a lot of snow yesterday but today we must have at least 18 inches in the garden today. You can get an idea of the conditions from the picture of our log cabin. It is now more than knee deep and in places where it has drifted much deeper. Currently no trains are going out of Sevenoaks station and the car is stuck in the drive. Even if we could get it out the roads are simply too dangerous. A walk into town yesterday found that most of the shops were shut and our local Co-op whilst open is limiting bread to one loaf per person. Personally judging by the state of the roads I’m surprised they have had a bread delivery at all. This is certainly the most snow I have in Sevenoaks in my lifetime and the bad news is its still snowing. I have a feeling it might just get worse before it gets better.

I woke up this morning to find a covering of snow in the garden. It’s not very thick at the moment but it certainly looks pretty.

According to this article 37% of native butterfly species are under threat of extinction or have already dies out. It is feared that many species could vanish within years due to the rise of intensive farming and the loss of habitats. According to conservationist butterflies determine the health of the environment so the decline not only affects other wildlife but also paints a bleak picture for other species.

The Butterfly Conservation charity has published a list of 23 butterfly species that are endangered of already extinct. A further 11 of our 72 species of native butterflies are also rated as near threatened with only half of species being considered safe. The extinct species include the black veined white, large copper, mazarine blue and large tortoiseshell. The large blue and high brown fritillary are listed as critically endangered. Species listed as endangered include the chequered skipper, wood white, white letter hairstreak, black hairstreak, duke of burgundy, pearl border fritillary, glanville fritillary and heath fritillary. Those listed as vulnerable include the dingy skipper, grizzled skipper, brown hairstreak, silver studded blue, northern brown argus, white admiral, marsh fritillary, grayling and large heath.

Whilst there have been some success stories with the large blue being drought back from the brink of extinction it appears there is still much to do. Butterflies are particularly vulnerable to the loss of grasslands which are rich in wildflowers and the poorer quality of woodlands. Pesticides and intensive farming are also largely to blame for their decline. Personally I leave wild areas of the garden where I encourage the wild flowers and the insects they bring with them. It might not be much but I tend to have all sorts of butterflies visiting in the summer.

If you buy organic vegetables simply because you think they are healthier then you might be wasting your money. That’s according to a study which has recently been carried out by Danish researchers. They grew vegetables under both organic and traditional conditioners and measured the health giving properties of each. Their findings were that that there was little difference in the amount of polyphenols between the two types of vegetables. Whilst this is interesting I do wonder how many people buy organic for health benefits. Personally I prefer to buy organic when possible because I know they have not been treated with all sorts of pesticides and often they taste better. In an ideal world I would grow my own, but I have yet to manage to grow everything I need in the garden. Perhaps I need to try harder next year.

I spent much of the weekend making herb jellies in an effort to use up some of the herbs before the frost kills them. I used this recipe as a start and added different combinations of liquid and herbs. It’s fairly easy to make jelly, its just a case of making a herb infusion by pouring two cups of boiling fruit juice, wine or water over the herbs. They you add this to four cups of sugar and a quarter of a cup of cider vinegar or lemon juice before boiling until the setting point is reached. Finally add three ounces of liquid pectin and pot into jars. I made orange and thyme jelly, red wine and rosemary and white wine and mint.

According to this article if you want to attract bumblebees to your garden you should be growing more stripy flowers. Research has shown that bees are more attracted to stripy flowers because the veins direct them to the centre of the flower somewhat like a landing platform. It seems they are also rather partial to red flowers preferring these to other colours. As bees are so important for pollinating my fruit and vegetables I will have to bear this is mind and plant a border of something stripy next year.

I recently came across this interesting article about how to grow tomatoes upside down. Whilst I am lucky to have plenty of space for my vegetable patch this looks like a really good way of saving space especially for those with small gardens. You can read the full article with instructions on how to do it here but the end results look something like this picture. It also has the advantage of creating a colourful canopy. I might give this a go next year, more for the decorative effect than anything else.

This massive pumpkin could be the world’s biggest. It weighs 1,652lbs which according to the article is more than a Fiat. It has already broken the British and European records but the growers are now waiting to see whether it will be crowned as the heaviest pumpkin of all time. The pumpkin was grown by brothers Ian and Stuart Paton who have been growing giant pumpkins for 30 years. If they don’t make the record this year they intend to keep on trying until they do.

A lady in Oxfordshire has managed to grow this enormous cucumber. Measuring 43 inches long and still growing it could be the world’s largest cucumber although this is still to be confirmed by Guinness World Record officials.

If you have a never ending battle with snails in your garden then it may be because the same snails simply keep coming back. One gardener who prefers not to kill snails and instead moves them did an experiment. She put small amounts of coloured nail varnish on their shells and moved them elsewhere. It was found that the snails were able to find their back from over 300ft away although they were less likely return from greater distances than this. Based on this it seems chucking over the wall is not option, I may have to resort to slug pellets and beer traps.

We are lucky that we have lots of wildlife in our garden. I do my best to encourage more and tend to leave wild areas for the birds as well as leaving quite a lot of the fallen fruit on the floor for them to eat. I also tend to put food out for  them and am often surprised by the birds that come to the bird table. We have groups of crows and starlings that visit regularly but I was recently surprised by this group of jays that visited as I have never seen them in such large numbers. In all there were seven birds but they didn’t all land to feed.  I was, however, able to get a few pictures of some of them. Click on the images for bigger versions.

We have quite a few plums trees in the garden and being plum season I have been looking for ways of using up the seasonal glut. I made this plum chutney the other day and it turned out rather well. It is quite sweet but is the perfect compliment to gammon, fish and strong cheeses. The recipe is from the Reader’s Digest book Food From Your Garden.

Ingredients
2lb (1kg) stoned plums
1lb (500g) apples
1lb (500g) shallots or onions
1lb (500g) raisins
6oz (175g) brown sugar
1oz (25g) salt
1 teaspoon each of ground ginger, allspice, dry mustard and nutmeg
1 pint (600ml) vinegar

Method
Chop the stoned plums, the peeled and cored apples, the peeled shallots and the raisins. Place in a pan with the sugar, salt, spices and vinegar. Bring to the boil, simmer until soft and thick. Put into jars and leave to cool. The recipe makes approx 4.5lb (2.25 kg) of chutney. That’s around 5 medium jars.

This is one of my favourite recipes for using up the lavender in the garden. It makes about 40 biscuits.

Ingredients
125 grams of butter
100 grams of caster sugar
1 egg
150 grams of self raising flour
Four or five lavender flowers depending on taste

Method
Cream the butter and sugar together until smooth. Beat in the egg. Add the lavender flowers and mix well. Add the sieved self raising flour and mix until it is all incorporated. Grease the baking trays. Use a teaspoon to take out a teaspoon full of mixture. Mould the mixture into a ball and squash to form a small biscuit shape. Be careful not to place the biscuits too close together on the baking trays as they will double in size during cooking. Cook for 170 degrees Celsius/ 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes until just starting to turn golden brown around the edges.

This was the scene that greeted a homeowner when they were awakened by a splashing noise in their garden. It is thought the fox cub has fallen into the pool during the night and being unable to get out has taken refuge on the lilo. Mr Barnes managed to help the fox cub out with the use of a pole and although it was exhausted it is thought it has made a full recovery.

Tesco have recently started selling a flat pack house for £9,999. The Finnlife home has four rooms and an upstairs storage area with some models also including a terraced decking area. The log cabin style homes are self assembly and can be adapted for a number of uses from a gym to a playroom. They are made of Scandinavian whitewood and are constructed with tongue and groove boards which slot together. Measuring 32ft by 16ft 10 the building has eight double glazed windows, French doors and a shingle roof. They are available online only and customers are advised to check planning permission and building regulations before installation.

That’s according to one lady who is selling her collection of 17 wallabies. She claims that they are the perfect alternative to a lawnmower because they keep the grass well grazed and will work 24 hours a day. They do, however, have a tendency to eat all the other plants in the garden as well so might not be a solution if you are a keen gardener. It you would like a wallaby then you need at least an acre of land and be prepared to take two as they like to be with a mate. They cost between £300 and £1,000 each.

According to this article many people are causing damage to the wildlife in their garden ponds because they don’t know how to properly maintain them. A survey of garden ponds found that many had high levels of nitrates usually caused by topping the pond up with tap water. Creatures such as water boatmen, beetles, snails, alderflies and damselfly larvae are adversely affected by high nitrate levels because they cause excessive nutrients in the water. This encourages plants such as duck weed and blanket weed which tend to suffocate the pond. Tempting as it might be to top your pond up with tap water when the water level is low it seems that most freshwater creatures are adapted to changing water levels. Most can apparently survive in just 2cm of water. The message here is to refill your pond with rainwater where possible although I can see that if you also have fish in the pond sometimes tap water might be the only option.

A rare wild flower will be protected by police patrols and CCTV to prevent it being stolen. The flower is a Lady’s Slipper Orchid and is thought to be so rare that only one flowering plant example exists in the UK. Located at Sliverdale Golf Course in Carnforth, Lancashire the plant is due to flower later this month. Efforts to re-introduce the flower in other areas have so far failed and with cuttings from the plants selling to collectors for anything up to £5,000, this is one very special plant. The orchid is protected by the by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and is coded with a security mark so that anyone who tries to sell a cutting of it can be caught.

An exotic plant which was thought to have died out 50 years ago has been discovered at a country house in Dorset. The 100 year old Rhododendron beanianum was discovered after Ray Abraham took up the role of head gardener at Minterne House. It is thought to be the only one in existence in the country. It is thought it was originally planted at the house in 1910 and later it was forgotten until being rediscovered recently. It is now hoped that it might be possible to cultivate and propagate the plants in order to sell it to Rhododendron collectors.

According to this article jam making is starting to become more popular. Whether it’s due to the fact that people are trying to make more food from scratch or that they are becoming more creative in the kitchen is not clear. It does seem, however, that there has been a recent rise in jam making equipment such as clip jars. Personally I have never tried making my own jam, but having recently moved to a house with several fruit trees in the garden, I might have to give it a try.

This lotus plant is unusual because it was grown from a seed that is thought to be 700 years old. The seed which dates back to Korea’s Goryeo Dynasty was one of 10 discovered during the excavation of an ancient castle last year. Scientists have confirmed that at least two of the seeds are 650 and 750 years old. All ten seeds were planted to see if anything would grow. So far three of the others have spouted and the other one has produced this plant.

Spring is here and with several fruit trees the garden is full of blossom. Here are a few pictures of the cherry and apple blossoms. One of the wild primroses and some shrubs that I am yet to find out the names of. And of course I have also included a picture of one of my cats surveying his garden. Click the images for larger versions.

Dog owners have been warned that slugs and snails could prove fatal to their pets. The warmer wetter weather we have been experiencing has led to a rise in molluscs. However, many people are unaware that they can harbour the parasite lungworm. This parasite can prove fatal when eaten by dogs. Although dogs do not normally choose to eat slugs and snails they can easily get into food or onto toys and be ingested. Dog owners have been warned to look out for symptoms of bleeding and fits as well as coughing, lethargy, weight loss, vomiting, diarrhoea, weakness and paralysis. If their dogs do experience any of these they should seek advice from a vet as soon as possible.

Three cases of Legionnaire’s disease in Scotland have been directly linked to compost. The cases of the disease which occurred between 2008 and 2009 have been linked to water droplets in packs of potting compost. They are the first cases to be linked to gardening within the UK but have led health experts to call for health warnings on packs of potting compost. The disease has previously been linked to gardening and potting mixes in Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States. Legionnaires disease is normally linked with contaminated water and air conditioning systems.

This is interesting its a scheme from the Co-op to try and rebuild honeybee numbers. Under the scheme people would be encouraged to keep bees in an urban environment. It would take advantage of areas such as allotments and roofs of buildings which can support bee populations. The Co-op aims to encourage 300 new people to urban beekeeping in Manchester, London and Inverness and will provide free training and equipment to those who are interested. In a trial of the scheme last year 60 people out of an initial 100 went on to become beekeepers. Honeybee numbers have more than halved in Britain in the period between 1985 and 2005 due to a number of reasons such as pesticide use, warmer winters and infections such as varroa mites. With their pollination of fruit trees and other crops being worth £165 million every year lets hops the scheme is successful. I would certainly be interested but am not sure my garden is quite big enough for a bee hive.

A recent Which? report has found that vegetable plugs produce poor value for money. The report found that a carrot plug plant that costs £1.09 each and produces one carrot is poor value when compared to a pack of seeds which would work out to just 10p. One company Gardening Direct has since withdrawn it’s carrot and beetroot plug plants facing the criticism. Keen gardeners have been advised to choose seeds instead and only to buy plug plants if they are priced fairly.

According to this article the number of bugs in Britain’s soil has increased by 50% in the last ten years. In the first study of its kind scientists have analysed the soil. They took more than 2,600 samples from different geological and climatic areas across the country and measured them for invertebrates, nutrients, pollutants, acidity and carbon. They found that in the top 8cm of soil, there are 12.8 quadrillion living organisms. Whilst the number of invertebrates has gone up by nearly 50% it appears that the diversity of life (the number of types) has decreased. Scientists say that both of these things are caused by the rise of annual temperatures and rainfall, the warmer and wetter summers that we have been experiencing.

If you like the idea of eating fresh produce from your own allotment but are not to keen on all the hard work involved, then this scheme might be for you. Launched by Wimpole Home Farm in Cambridgeshire it allows people to own a plot of land on an allotment. A grower will then plant, harvest and maintain the plot and for just £8 the owner will receive the fruits of their labour. An acre of land has been put aside by Wimpole Home Farm for the scheme and this has been divided into 50 sections which are being offered to individual owners. The land is owned by the National Trust and they have pledged to create 1,000 similar plots across the UK in the next 3 years. It seems like a good idea for those who want seasonal fruit and vegetables but don’t really have to time to spend growing it themselves.

According to this article feeding the birds can affect the way that they evolve. Scientists have carried out a study on blackcaps which has found that they follow a different evolutionary path if they spend the winter eating food people have put out for them. The birds normal wintering ground is in southern Spain where they would feed on the fruit that grows there but some birds are now wintering in the UK because they can survive on the food we leave out on our bird tables. Studies have found that those birds which do this are now in the early stage of forming a new species. As the UK is closer to the birds breeding ground these birds also return early and claim the better territory than those that winter in Spain. The researcher found that the two groups of birds have different chemical signatures and have formed two distinct populations even down to the fact that they only mate within their own group. There are also differences emerging in the birds beak, wings and plumage with the birds that winter in the UK having rounder wings and longer narrower beaks more adapted to eating seeds and fat from bird feeders. It will be interesting to revisit this story in the future to see whether they have evolved further.

It started snowing here in Sevenoaks last night and we now have a good covering of snow. Whilst the foxes have been jumping around in it and playing the cats are not impressed. Our white cat Ollie (pictured) ventured out for a look but the other are all curled up inside. Below is a view of the trees in our garden.

According to this article tomato and potato plants kill insects in order to help fertilise themselves. The plants have sticky hairs on them that they use to trap small insects. When the insects die they fall to the ground and the plants absorb the nutrients through their roots. Although the technique is more commonly seen in wild plants, it is thought that garden varieties still retain the ability to this but that they have no need to do so because gardeners tend to provide the plants with food. Botanists have recently been conducting a study into carnivorous plant species and were surprised to find carnivorous behaviour in many plant species that have previously been overlooked. Among them are species of petunia, ornamental tobacco plants, some varieties of potatoes and tomatoes and shepherd’s purse.

This orchid has recently been discovered in Eucador and is thought to be the world’s smallest. It measures only 2.1mm wide and its transparent petals are only one cell thick. The tiny flower was found among the roots of much larger plants and after it was studied in more detail it was found to be an entirely new species.

Our cat Oliver is notorious for being very timid, he usually hides when we get any visitors and get beaten up by our other cats. Bearing this in mind we were very surprised when a large fox wandered into the garden and approached him. Oliver and the fox regarded each other for a while before the fox rolled on the ground. It was obvious to us that the fox wanted to play but Oliver seemed to miss the point and chased him away. You can see pictures below of the encounter, click on the images for a bigger version.

If you are planning on building a bonfire this bonfire night, then make sure you look out for hedgehogs. Unfortunately this is just the time of year that hedgehogs are looking for somewhere warm to spend the winter and a pile of logs makes the perfect place to hibernate. If you are planning on building a bonfire the advice is to assemble your fire a few hours before the event rather than several weeks before hand. It is less likely that animals such as hedgehogs and frogs and toads will have chance to crawl inside. As scientists predict that hedgehogs could be extinct by 2025 they need all the help they can get, so taking this simple step could mean far less casualties.

I have come across many cool hedge shapes in the past such as the hedge whale, the hedge sea monster and the hedge elephants but this is the first time I have seen a hedge car. The 11ft car is made up of six plants and there are also some 6ft high mechanics which are made from two plants each. The plants have been carefully trained over a wire frame to create the shape and are then trimmed.

According to this article if you want bigger fruit from your tomato plants then you should try urinating on them. A study has found that urinating on your tomato plants can make the crop up to four times bigger than usual. The discovery was made by a team of Finnish researchers who found sprinkling the tomatoes with human urine mixed with wood ash made the ideal fertiliser. Its an interesting idea but I’m not sure I would fancy eating the fruit.

This is interesting its a device that allows you grow plants without using soil. The seeds are put on a sponge rather than being grown in the soil and a mains generated system sprays them with oxygenated water to keep the plants hydrated. It is available from Firebox at a cost of £34.95 and according to the comments at the bottom of the article it is also possible to buy larger devices that are suitable for growing other things such as tomatoes, beans and peas. I have grand plans to start a vegetable patch in the garden next season but this looks quite useful for a mini window sill herb garden. I think I will put on of these on my Christmas list.

This scary looking plant has recently been discovered in the Philippines. The plant which has been named after Sir David Attenborough grows more than 4ft long. It is able to eat prey such as mice and rats which it traps by secreting nectar. Once close enough the animals fall into a large pitcher within the plant. Unable to get out they then drown and acids in the fluid break down the remains.

This is interesting, its a scheme being offered by a farmer that will allow people to grow vegetables above their dead relatives. Under the scheme people will be able to buy a plot for their relative to be buried in and will then be able to farm the land above to grow their own veg. The plots will be available at Richard Sibley’s farm in North Somerset. It will cost £1,400 to bury someone there and £13 a month to continue farming the land.

My new garden has quite a few fruit trees in it, including various types of apples, plums and pears and I have already started using the cooking apples. I made some apple sauce the other day from apples picked the same day and it put the shop brought stuff to shame. Looking at all the fruit still on trees, I think I will fast run out of ideas on how to use them. Any recipe ideas will be appreciated.

One of the best things about our new house is the large garden which is full of wildlife. On the day we arrived we discovered a hole at the bottom of the garden and were curious as to what might be inside. A few days later I came across a large fox sunning itself on the lawn and it now appears that we have a whole family of foxes. I have also noticed several squirrels and there are signs of hedgehog activity although I haven't actually seen one yet. We also have a variety of different birds. The most abundant appears to be the big fat wood pigeons and doves which sit in the tall trees surrounding the garden. I have also seen blackbirds, song thrushes, robins, green finches, coal tits, blue tits, great tits, wrens, crows, magpies, starlings, gold finches, woodpeckers, sparrows and some type of small hawk. As a keen birdwatcher I can see I am going to like it here. Once I have found where I packed the camera I hope to have some pictures of the wildlife so expect these to be posted shortly.

I have noticed a huge number of greenflies in my garden over the past few weeks and it appears I am not the only one. According to this article the recent hot weather has created the perfect conditions that’s the flies need to reproduce. The cold winter has also meant that many of the larger insects that eat the greenflies have been killed off. The insect explosion whilst it is not good news for gardeners like me is however, good news for garden birds that rely on insect numbers to flourish.

Something that has been puzzling researchers for some time is the amount of frogs that are found around the world with missing legs. It was originally thought to have been caused by chemical pollution but it appears it might have a more natural cause. According to this article dragonfly nymphs are rather partial to eating the legs on developing tadpoles. The nymphs rarely eat the tadpole whole and instead grab it and chew on its limbs often removing them altogether. The tadpole usually survives and later turns into as adult frog with missing legs. It appears that the adult frogs are able to survive for a long time with missing legs which goes some way to explaining why there are so many legless frogs hopping around.

We have a large hedge all around the outside of our property which can be battle to keep under control so I can sympathise with this man. Tired of his unruly hedge he decided to turn it into a herd of elephants. He spent two days cutting the overgrown hedge into the shape of elephants and now has a 100ft trail of hedge elephants to the side of his house. I’m guessing that as my husband would not let carve the hedge into a cool hedge monster or a hedge whale, that a herd of elephants will be out of the question, but we will see.

This is interesting its a plant that pretends to be ill in order to deter predators from eating it. The plant produces patterns on its leaves which mimic the damage done to plants by mining moths. The picture shows actual mining moth damage on the left and the fake damage right. It appears that moths do not lay any further larvae on leaves that already have damage so they avoid the plants with the fake leaf damage. The idea was tested by painting white correctional fluid on the leaves of some plants to mimic the moth damage. After three the number of leaves affected by the moths were counted comparing green leaves and the pattered leaves. It was found that those with the patterns were significantly less damaged than the plain green ones.

I am used to seeing butterflies in my garden but in the last week have noticed an unusual concentration of painted lady butterflies. The usual butterfly population in my garden tends to consist of a mix of cabbage whites, small and large tortoiseshells, comma and peacock butterflies so I was wondering if there was a reason for this high concentration of painted ladies. This article just might explain it. It suggests that there is a mass migration of the butterflies this year with around 18,000 of them arriving on the north Norfolk coast from North Africa. Apparently the migration began last Thursday when large numbers of the butterflies were found in Dorset but since then they have been spotted pretty much everywhere. If you don’t know what one looks like, there is a picture on the left but chances are you could be seeing quite a lot of them this year.

According to this article it is a particularly good year for dandelions. The combination of lots of rain followed by sunny days seems to have created the ideal growing conditions for the weed.  My garden definitely backs up the theory. As quickly as I dig the plants out, more seems to take their place. I am starting to wonder whether I should just leave them there and try to use them for something. Apparently they are quite nice in salads.

A gardener from Anglesey who has a rather a lot of snails in her garden has started turning them into food. Oriole Parker-Rhodes has been making meals out the snails that she finds in her garden and has now devised several recipes for them. She has developed her own preparation methods which include feeding them lettuce, onion and stale bread to clean out any grit in their guts. The snails are then purged fro 48 hours before being plunged into boiling water to kill them. They can then be boiled in stock or cooked with parsley or butter sauce. Whether this is a sign of the credit crunch setting in or that the creatures are actually quite tasty I’m not sure, I do have rather a lot of snails in my garden, however.

Below is her recipe for snails in wild herbs and you can find other ideas on her blog.

SNAILS IN WILD HERBS
Using a good book, collect seasonal weeds. Wash and chop finely, then Blanch for 5 mins the wild herbs you can lay your hands on. I used the following: Water parsnip, Wild sorrel, Water cress, Nettle tips, A little ribwort plantain. Sieve , pressing out the water. Finely chopped ramsons (if in season, otherwise use onion or garlic with the blanched herbs) Add all these to melted butter. Put a snail in each hollow of a snail plate and add as much paste as possible. Bake for 20 mins. Serve with cubes of bread and salad.

I came across this picture of a cool hedge whale today. It was created by Nicki Leggatt who decided she wanted to do something a little different with the hedge in her front garden. I have a large hedge in my garden I wonder if my husband will let me turn it into a whale.

If you have just killed your favourite plant and are finding it a little hard to cope there is no need to suffer on your own. There is help out there from the Royal Horticultural Society. They offer a service that can help those who are suffering from plant grief. They have a dedicated team who have studied bereavement counselling. They will try to help you determine why your plant has died and you can even send them a sample to help determine the cause of death. According to an expert "That can help them reach the final stage  -  acceptance  -  and then they can move on." Apparently many of the people that use the service treat their plants like their family and these cases of plant grief are becoming more common.

I have a very swollen foot where something has bitten me. It started at the weekend when I noticed a small black beetle type creature on my ankle. At the time, I just brushed it off and thought little more of it. Now, however my whole foot is swollen and is covered by a very itchy and painful rash which surrounds a single puncture wound on my ankle. I'm not entirely sure what the creature was that bit me, but this is a different type of insect to the normal ones I have. It seems to be more painful and it is taking longer for the swelling to go down. Do you think you know what it was that bit me, if so let me know here?

The recent wet weather seems to have encouraged the frogs in the garden to leave the pond and start hopping around looking for food. Unfortunately this means that in our garden they are almost certain to come into contact with one of the cats. The cats obviously think frogs are lots of fun. You can pounce on them and they jump, let them go and then they jump again. Frogs also scream when they are cornered and stressed. They make a very high pitched screaming noise which doesn't seem to deter the cats. It does, however, alert me to the fact that the cats are playing with another poor frog. So far this morning I have rescued two frogs and returned them unharmed to the safety of the pond. My cat Oliver has also learnt this morning (after picking a frog up in his mouth) that whilst frogs are great fun, they actually don't taste that good. I wonder whether he will remember this when the next frog comes along, my guess is that the urge to pounce on another jumping frog will be stronger than the memory of the bad taste.

With costs of conventional fertiliser rising, farmers are turning to a new way to fertilise their crops. Many have now started using human waste in the form of treated human sewage. Water companies are no longer allowed to dump this into the sea but appear to have a ready market in supplying farmers. In fact Severn Trent Water have said they are struggling to keep up with demand. Human fertiliser costs farmers around a fifth of the price of the more expensive alternative but does have the disadvantage of being more smelly. However, farmer Jonathan Barrett says the smell can be reduced once it is incorporated into the soil and turned regularly. He also said it is best to take into account the wind direction when using it. Human sewage is currently allowed to be used on grassland and crops but not on salads, fruit and root crops.

According to this article gardeners are likely to see an invasion of slugs this year. Apparently the warm and damp spring has provided the ideal conditions for slugs to breed. It certainly seems to the case in my garden. The slimy little critters have been enjoying my nice ripe strawberries before I can get to them myself and I took this picture of a particularly large and slimy slug crawling down my patio door this morning.

I have a grow your own venus fly trap kit. It all looks very easy from the instructions. You simply soak the compost in a little warm water, put it in the pot and plant the seeds. Then cover it with a plastic bag and wait for your little fly traps to grow. I have done all that and three days later, no little fly traps. Perhaps I am being impatient or perhaps I have done something wrong. Anyway, I will keep checking every few days to see if anything happens.

We always find that no matter how many times we clear out the shed it always becomes full again very quickly. I think I have finally found the answer this huge shed. It costs £13,000 and is available from Argos. The only problem is, its just a little bit too big for our garden.

I'm still playing with new Nikon D40 and in just a few weeks have already taken hundreds of pictures. Rather than bore people with the details, in future I will just post a selection of the better ones every week or so with a short caption. Starting with the picture on the left which I was quite pleased with.

Yellow Rose in My Garden

This interesting looking treetop walkway has just opened at Kew Gardens. It is 200m long and has been designed by the architects behind the London Eye to allow visitors to enter the tree canopy and get a closer look at the birds and insects that live there. It certainty looks like it will be interesting to visit, although I will probably wait until it has been open a little while before going.

I have been playing with my new camera and have taken a few pictures using various different settings. The first is my purple clematis in the garden, the second my waterfall in our pond and the third a female newt swimming in the pond.

A new system is being tried London which will put a value on trees. Trees will be assessed on a number of factors including size, how many people enjoy the tree and the life expectancy of the tree. Taking into account all of those factors a plane tree in central London has recently been valued at £750,000. The system is designed to make it harder for trees to be felled. For example if a developer illegally destroys a tree, then the fine imposed could now be a better reflection of the tree's value, meaning they should be less likely to consider felling a tree in the first place.

We have spent most of today trimming the hedge that surrounds our garden. Whilst this may seem like an easy task, its not, this hedge has really large thorns. During the day I managed to step on a thorn which pierced through my shoe into my foot and have sustained several other injuries where the thorns managed to get through my gloves. On top of that I managed to get sunburn, despite the fact that it was overcast and windy for most of the day. I hate that hedge...

I can’t be the only person to notice that all the wet weather in the UK has had a massive impact on the slug population. Usually I see a few slugs but this year they are everywhere, crawling around and devouring all my plants. I was interested to read this article that suggests the slug population has in fact doubled this year. Experts estimate that there are 15 billion in Britain, that’s an awful lot of slugs, and I think a couple of hundred are in my garden. I think its time to get the beer traps out.

I have an intense hatred of garden gnomes, so much so, that not even one is allowed to set foot in my garden. This article represents one of most nightmares, a garden full of the little critters. Jean Balcombe from Willesborough in Kent has 1,500 gnomes in her garden which she has collected over 20 years.

My cats have been hunting frogs for several months now with no success. So little success in fact that I had become secure in the knowledge that the frogs were too smart to be caught. Yesterday Oscar (pictured) came running into the house with a large frog firmly between his teeth. At first I assumed he had caught a bird but upon further inspection I found it was a frog and was still very much alive. After a bit of persuasion I managed to get Oscar to drop his frog and returned it to the pond. Oscar was left with a very bad taste in his mouth, but is still hunting frogs.

I read this article about people that have managed to grow unusual plants in their gardens. A lady in Essex managed to grow a pineapple by putting the top part of a pineapple fruit in water and then planting it when it grew roots. I'm off to Tesco next week to buy myself a pineapple to try growing one myself.