River Cottage Spring Hugh calls for heroes! Do you grow your own?

Comments

1. hi. my name is debbie and i have decided to start growing some veg and fruit in my garden but feel a little lost on what i can grow. there is soil types and what have you. i live in scotland in mid lothian any advise on what i can grow would be of great help.

   Posted by dee miller on 20/10/2009 19:01:41

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2. Hi Hugh and co! Thanks to you i am now growing my own veg!I am a farmers daughter anyway but have always been busy with the cattle, sheep and milking!.. You have done wonders with letting the public know about battery hens and pork, well done. I am still concerned with the amount of beef, lamb and milk which is brought into this country. Supermarkets are still in charge. I was disgusted by the amount of new zealand lamb on offer on the shelves, how does it make sense when we are surrounded by sheep (in Wales). I have got word of a supermarket buying in polish milk for 14ppl to make into cheese etc so is hidden as such. These low prices are pushing british farmers out of business. The public need to be made aware. Please help! I am a mother of two young girls, my partner and i worry what farming will be like when they (hopefully) want to follow in our footsteps. We are looking to buy our first home and are finding it extremely hard. The price of houses is stupid (especially if they have a little land). We bought 48 cattle a year last spring and are now sending these for slaughter, it will be our deposit. But I have started rearing friesian and ayrshire bull calves in the spring. So funds are slowly disappearing. The public need to be shown how hard farmers work and why they need supporting. Sorry to have gone on! It is something I feel so strongly about. I just wish I knew what to do. Thank you Jo

   Posted by Joanne Rodenhurst on 05/10/2009 15:55:17

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3. I have a vegepatch but have decided to maximise the space by expanding onto the shed roof. I am in the process of making it all safe and working out what to plant up there ready for next years planting.

   Posted by Hugsville on 06/09/2009 21:18:03

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4. Hi, me and my family have just started an allotment earlier this year. We've been growing all different vegetables and have really got into it. The allotments are in Blackburn Lancs and have been there since 1922, there is about 50 plots here and some people have been here for over 30 years. We've just heard the council are going to flatten our allotments to build a road through so Tesco can build a bigger store nearby. Everyone at the plots is furious about this, years of hard work lost.Anyway we wondered if this would be something you would be interested in campaigning against with us, a big name like yourself would surely help enormously and we know this is something your totally enthusiastic about. If you can help in anyway please do.

   Posted by david clail on 22/07/2009 14:34:05

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5. Hi High just a general email. am from the uk living in OZ, we have bought free range eggs and chickens for years as their is a demand for these items over here and they are readily available in the larger supermarkets as whole chickens and chicken breats etc. we also can buy organic beef from coles supermarkets. I can't justify cruelty for our consumption and hope that by buying free range and organic, the animals have a better life. We also grow our own vegetables and even during the dry months water them from our water tank, you just have to think about shade and the hot sun when you plan a garden over here. But the vegetables keep on producing for longer as the colder months are milder. Keep up the good work

   Posted by Deb on 22/04/2009 04:58:08

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6. Hello, I have taken over an area at the rear of my block of flats and planted a wide variety of veg. I'm also growing on window ledges all throughout my house. Very reqarding!!!

   Posted by Lewee on 19/04/2009 21:02:38

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7. I am not trying to ruin this site, but visit the site I just made, http://www.thegreatfarmer.webs.com/. Leave comments. Best Regards, The Great Farmer

   Posted by The Great Farmer on 15/04/2009 22:16:40

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8. I know a lot of people want to impress friends with tall plants, just hopefully your friend that you are trying to impress won't read this. Try growing gourds, they are usually not in grocery stors that do sell seeds. They are a little more exotic, but still cheap. When the soil is warm (about 3 weeks after the last frost, or like I typed, when the soil is warm) plant the gourd, probably about as close to a tree as you can get, so it can climb up, and they can reach heights of 20 feet or more! This takes lots of work though, you need to keep it watered, and make sure it has lots of sunlight. Gourds grow on a fast growing vine, so you only have to wait a few months, unlike grapes, which take a year or to. Impress Friends, The Great Farmer

   Posted by The Great Farmer on 14/04/2009 23:44:00

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9. Let your kids plant a nice garden indoors when it is time to start to plant indoors (3 weeks before the last frost), and make them take care of it , because it will take alot of tending, but it is fun, and you can do stuff like plant a sunflower, and when it germinates, put a bottle over it and see what heppens and experiment with all sorts of things, like putting a couple of sunflowers in a pot without thinning them, or pulling some out, and se how they hold each other up, and eventually choke each other, or somtimes grow into one plant. Sincerely, The Great Farmer

   Posted by The Great Farmer on 14/04/2009 21:56:00

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10. If you have to dig through moss to get to good growing soil, the soil is not good growing soil, it is to acidic, and you need stuff to make it less acidic. Instead of buying all those chemicals that kill your plants, use egg shells, they work well, and keep snails away if they are large pieces. I have had this problm before, and it worked just fine. Also, i posted a few of these a little while ago, but if you hate those caterpillars that eat yout tomatoes, plant basil and parsely near it. If you have carrots being eaten by rabbits, and skunks and other rodents tramping your crops, plant marigolds, 3-5 feet apart all the way around your garden, just like I said in earlier comments, don't plat it near cucumber plants. Make a fence, and put chickens in it before you plant your crops, they will eat grubs and beetles, but if you want the chicken to like or obey you, you have to raise it from less than 5 days old, and spent lots of time with it. Also make sure you hand feed them kitchen scraps(cucumber peels, broccoli stems, anything green that is not citrus) once in a while, it'll keep them happy and healthy. Happy growing and I hope my tips worked, i just discovered this site, and now I will be here often. Leave Questions, The Great Farmer

    Posted by The Great Farmer on 14/04/2009 21:46:27

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11. Dear graham johnson, don't buy seeds for potatoes (Ididn't know there were such thing), just start them by getting a potato and putting it ina brown paper bag, and wait for it to have eyes about 1/2 an inch long. You should start them May-June in New england, and the more south you go, the earlier, but generally the Last Frost, or when it doesn't get lower then freezing temp. If you for some reason lived in Pheonix, Arizona, you can start them whenever you feel like it, but just water it A LOT.

    Posted by The Great Farmer on 14/04/2009 21:20:51

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12. I have a garden, 2 hens and 2 ducks, one of which lays eggs, and I have more eggs than I can eat! I get about 3 a day, one duck egg, and 2 chicken eggs. If you want the eggs to taste fresh (which takes a while to get used to for some people), you have to give them a little area outside, and if there are things that might eat them (like foxes, dogs, cats, ect.) around, have a fence and a shed at night. Always put them away, which can take about 10 minutes of time out of you day. It will keep animals at night such as skunks and other nocturnal animals from eating them.make sure you have duck feed, and also give the ducks a little pool to swim in. We have more eggs than we can eat, and somtimes we have to give some to friends. Also for a good garden,plant about 15 tomato plants at the time you are supposed to start them indoors, and if you like chili, plant about 10 or 15, though we love chili, so I usually plant about 35 chili plants. Plant things such as gourds, potatoes, and maybe corn for fun, because it is cheaper to buy then it is to take care of. I also recommend not to plant corn and tomatoes near each other, and don't plant cucumbers near fragrent flowers, like marigolds. You can save hundreds of dollars if you plant a garden 10 feet by 8 feet.

    Posted by The Great Farmer on 14/04/2009 21:14:20

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13. hi Hugh,i am an avid follower of all of your projects, i have chickens,grow my own veg and enjoy the countryside,i also have 4 chidren and take pride in feeding them healthy ,fresh homemade food,including fish,which is why i am contacting you. In these difficult financial times i thought i had found a bargain in the fish counter at my local Tescos store,it looked good,it was meaty but i hadnt heard of it,i bought it any way, it was the River Cobbler,fortunately i looked it up when i got home,needless to say i took it straight back and would not feed this muck to my children, the worrying thing is a lot will without knowing how bad this fish is,mothers will give it to their children thinking it is fish and healthy.Ido strongly feel something needs to be done, please Hugh this could be your next important campaign,look it up and all who read this pass it round stay away from River Cobbler and let Tesco know why ,i have and perhaps we can get it off the shelves.

    Posted by julia butterworth on 05/04/2009 17:53:35

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14. Hello Hugh I am married with four children living in a rural area of Tyrone. I have taken a career break and living the "Good Life". I have just recently got six hens which we saved from being battery hens. They are absolutely fantastic!! In a week's time they will be out in our field and I can't wait! At the minute we have them in a very large open pen, only until they get used to us and the other animals we have. They are due to start laying eggs in a couple of weeks and it's very exciting times for the children (and me!!). We have loads of friends and family who can't wait to try the eggs! I love the country life and I am actively encouraging my four young chldren to grow vegetables and to help in caring for our animals. I also have got fruit trees and fruit bushes and will be increasing my vegetable beds. In our current economic climate, I want to let my friends all see how it takes very little to grow your own and how much enjoyment you get from eating your own produce. I also think that this is a great environment to be bringing my family up in. I hope I haven't bored you to tears, but I am sooo excited about all my plans for the garden! Thanks for reading this. Mary

    Posted by mary tyrone on 16/03/2009 16:52:03

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15. Hi Hugh, About a year ago my parents decided on taking on 12 ducks to rear for their eggs. The produce became too much to consume for 4 people and they didn't want to waste any. So they became involved with the local farm shop a few minutes away who sell award winning local pork and other meats. My parents eggs where sold in the farm shop alongside their free range products. My parents instead of taking money traded it for meat from the farm! They are more than pleased with how things have turned out and have not bought any meat from a supermarket in the time they have run their little project!

    Posted by kim on 08/03/2009 17:39:07

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16. hi hugh we have a lot of wasted land thats bin over grown for years on are Council estate an we want take it over for growing are own veg could you point us in the right direction an the way we go about asking the Council for the land thanks john wilson stockport (manchester)

    Posted by burtscon on 27/02/2009 17:57:37

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17. Hugh I just love your programmes. I am a 69 year old but when I was a Nipper Mum and Dad used to keep pigs in the back garden and slaughter them on the back yard. If the sow had a runt(one piglet to many for the teats the sow had)I would bottle feed every 2 hours then watch it grow into a healthy pig then watch the local butcher kill it and instead of a turkey at Xmas mum used to boil a whole ham never tasted meat quite as nice as that.

    Posted by Ann Harrison on 22/02/2009 21:15:47

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18. Just been on Landshare site and despite the assurance of "monthly updates" and being informed of the results in early 2009, I am still in the dark. Growing season is pretty much upon us and yet no news of our applications for growing land..

    Posted by Craigski on 18/02/2009 10:51:30

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19. Hi All, My friends and I are keen mountain bikers and always out and about where we live in the western suburbs of London near Heathrow. We have a surpisingly good few green areas where we can take our bikes and get away from it all. And my lifelong fascination with gardeing and plants and food have led to a degree of foraging in these green spaces for wonderful wild foods, and also some guerilla planting and seed sowing of native fruit bushes/trees and beneficial plants for wildlife. As well as the usual wild apples, berries, garlics, nettles and mushrooms we sometimes strike it lucky with exotic fruits planted by estate owners (public access permitted of course) recently on sunday 1st Feb the day before traditional candlemass and the huge snowstorms we all got, we were picking Kiwi fruits from a vine that had been planted on a golf course...Fantastic!! we are hoping to harvest more free wild food as well as our 'home grown' whislt out enjoying our bikes soon!!

    Posted by Paul on 05/02/2009 14:51:13

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20. Dear Hugh, I've always been green fingered thanks to my late parents and always gardened/grown my own in previous places I've lived. Since moving to Saddleworth and completing a barn conversion with not much land,I've dreamed of getting back to growing again.I'm now in the middle of purchasing a plot of land (no local allotments)and heard that you were after stories for your new series.I've planned the field (quagmire at the moment) to have both raised veg beds/fruit beds/animal pens for my existing hens..and for new pigs/goats.There is so much work to do on the site and it might be an idea to maybe film this as work continues.Starting with the barren plot now and seeing how it is turned into a fully producing small holding.Its at the side of a small river and in a beautiful country setting. However, as I will be catching this years growing season, I will be going hell for leather over the next few weekends so if you want to make this a "complete start to finish" feature, so to speak, you'll need to act quickly.If not, hey no probs, it will be my main project...only 3/4 of an acre, but from little acorns!!! I've been offered another 10 acres which I would use for sheep and cattle, but lets crawl before we walk.....Keep up the fantastic welfare work you're doing with chickens and the Unmissable River Cottage series.....All the best....Steve Owen

    Posted by Steve Owen on 04/02/2009 11:04:59

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21. Dear Hugh You have much to answer for!!! Two years ago I sat in front of a mac in an office with no windows and never saw the light of day. Now I cling to a north facing hillside in Dorset with 200 free range chickens 70 Polled Dorset ewes and lambs, 10 Devon reds, the same number of Dairy bull calves and Ben the sheep dog/pup. I still sit in front of the computer now and then- but then I get to see the sun rise and set nearly day. Thanks- I think.

    Posted by Jonathan on 04/02/2009 07:22:58

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22. I grow vegetables and for the last five years I have developed my own strain of pumpkin which is grown outdoors here in Norfolk.It is a round pumpkin with a pale green skin and bright orange flesh.It has a very long shelf-life as it will keep for - a year after harvest if stored under the correct conditions.It is delicious prepared in many ways and is very good for baking.In taste and texture it is like a butter-nut squash. I also grow beans....Runner's,Bush and Broads, and each year at the end of autumn I retain some of the seed for planting the following year. I allow the Runner beans to stay in the ground over-winter and those which survive I harvest seeds from the following year.I have Runner beans that I have been harvesting from that have been growing outdoors without protection for three winters and more. These have developed root-systems that resemble sweet potatoes in size.The ultimate aim is to breed an extremely hardy strain of runner bean.Likewise with the Bush and Broad-bean strains that I am growing. I grow my own strain of Cos lettuce which I grow out-doors where I allow them to set seed. This strain of lettuce has naturalized itself in the vegetable garden along with Swiss Chard,American Land Cress,Parsley,New Zealand Spinach and Parsnip !!!. I am also experimenting with various fruit trees that I have grown from seed and for the last fifteen years I have beengrowing Agapanthus.

    Posted by brian skinner on 03/02/2009 09:56:24

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23. After watching Chickens, Hugh and Tesco Too on channel 4 last week a note came up at the end about stories for growing your own in next series, this made me think instantly of the farm I work at. I have only worked at the farm since September 2008, but I am frequently told by customers how great our stuff is and how keen customers are to order again, as growing from seedlings is much easier and more reliable. As a frequent viewer of River Cottage, I thought arranging a visit maybe of intrest to you. I'm 24 and have never thought of growing veg myself but after working at the farm and seeing the things that we have on offer, i can't wait to get my first house and garden and get started. Suddenly it doesn't seem so hard any more when your starting from plugs not seeds. Also growing things like round courgettes seems like something you've just got to try. It's a family run Cornish farm and we farm vegetable plants, sheep, arable and daffodils so we'd probably fit in quite well with the ethos of your program. We have been supplying commercial growers and local producers with quality plant seedlings for years and have recently started supplying the home market via post. We do organic and conventional vegetable seedlings so there is a balance. I know it sounds a bit commercial but really it's not, we aim at getting the quality just right and are relatively small. Also I am not sending this email from a work point of view but a personal one as it is something I really believe in. By merely looking amongst my own friends I think my generation will return to home produce like our Grandparents, with the help and guidance from shows like yours, all we need to be shown is how. Kind regards Bridie Easton

    Posted by Bridie Easton on 02/02/2009 17:06:29

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24. Dear Hugh, We love your food and animal welfare programmes. Regarding the Tesco chickens issue, we agree, but you did not give any comment on the taste and nutrition value of the various methods of farming - please advise. We buy only free range chickens from a local farmer/butcher and which are totally different from the tasteless supermarket chickens, at little extra cost, but the flavour is worth the difference. We also get given local pheasant - super. Best regards and please do keep up the good work, David Winspear Somerset

    Posted by David Winspear on 01/02/2009 00:39:45

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25. Hi River Cottage Have done a couple of your courses (mushrooms and pig in a day). Love the growing is a surprising way idea. We have a pub in Battersea, th Eagle Ale House and started a little growing on the roof tops. The pub is terraced so we don't have much garden space - what we have we use. Everything looking a little sparse now but come Spring loads of spinach (for our Lamb and Spinach curry), courgettes, peas, beans, tomatos, loads of fresh herbs and best of all our pumpkin challenge. We distribute 10 seedlings amongst customers early spring and then have a weigh in September. Started Asparagus beds last year but it could be a year or two before we see any dinner ! This year potato sacks. More to follow. Arkwright

    Posted by EAGLE ALE HOUSE on 31/01/2009 21:20:22

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26. Hi I plant runner beans and bobby beans in toilet roll holders, one in each, standing up on end in large plastic ice-cream tubs. I always plant half a dozen extra in case they don't germinate. You then plant the young plants outdoors or in containers(after hardening)still in the cardboard which eventually disintegrates. This means you can put them on your windowsill to germinate and begin to grow much earlier than planting directly outside. It also means you have to find a way of emptying several ice-cream tubs, hmmmmm.....

    Posted by David Isaac on 31/01/2009 21:20:06

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27. Hello everyone, Glad to see so many comments, i have a small veggie patch in my garden which i started last year. I managed to grow alot of potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes and tried to grow some carrots, beans and spring onions which didnt come to much unfortunatly. im only 24 and some people say im a bit old before my time but i believe that it is good to be able to learn these basic skills and i enjoy going into the garden each day and digging my own veg. i'm hoping that with time i begin to learn more about growning veg and fruit and am able to provide my family with more veg from the garden and less from the surpermarket, and maybe one day be able to use an allotment. I would just like to say thank you to Hugh, it's because of you that i have tried to grow my veg at home and am even trying to convince the girlfriend to keep some chickens at home in the garden for fresh eggs everyday. keep up the programmes they are very informative and enjoyable! Daniel Bennett From Hampshire.

    Posted by Danny84 on 31/01/2009 21:14:48

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28. my nextdoor neighbour gave us 1/2 her garden(10ft by 8ft)last year to grow veggies.After the backbreaking job of clearing the plot we grew a wide range of veg. The plot was mainly managed by my 10yr old stepson,Josh.Who now loves nearly every veg going and has helped cook them for tea and is now able to make green tomato chutney and pickled beetroot. my partner is now willing to try new veg now, he was a peas, carrots and potato man only before. we have had many happy times in our little plot and we cant wait for this years produce, we are at the moment waiting for our broccoli. love your shows hugh, keep up the good work with the chickens All the best, happy growing debs xxxxxxxxxx

    Posted by debs1970 on 31/01/2009 14:21:01

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29. hello hugh great shows. i moved to my new house about 9 months ago, i met my neighbours and told them my intentions about making my 3 acres into a smallholding and nature sanctury. quite a few were not conviced shall we say.but 1 of my now mates no neighbour took me serious. so we began, first the raised beds for veg were up and running by may, and in went our crops. when people hear what your doing, it,s amazing how you soon get to know somebody who knows someone else, this is what happened to us and low and behold our next recruit ian now known as (the beast myster). ian who then (knew mick) got us our sheep 9 ewes and 15 lambs at foot this was great for us as we only bought the lambs which were suckling. mick had his ewes back and we sold the lambs. but in the last year we have learned so much in brackets (fly strike). from the profits of selling our lamb to family and friends, we have our own ewes or as us lads call them (our girls) the wives take the back seat. another of our new found friends (steve)kindly dropped off 2 of his rams to service our magnificent 7 girls, who are now in lamb. while all this was going on we built the hen house, it,s so big people want to move in.but in oct we got our first 10 hens along with 4 geese unfortunatly 1 died and 1 disapeared but the other 2 are fine and big can anyone sex geese they are free range and never been picked up. the hens are brill they have 3 acres to roam in being fed with all the scraps, but the best eggs i,ve tasted. just one point here i write this at the end of jan 2009 in 4 months we have got back all our investment in 10 hens just by selling the eggs, come on britain they have payed for themselves in 4 months (buy chickens). well hugh, tomorow we go and get our pigs, this will be fun. just to recap i,ve been in a factory all my life, but this move has opened a pandoras box i,ve had great food for 9 months. but the best gift is the great friends i have met and the best time of my life. a footnote i still have lambing to look forward too i see true life (and death) as it is meant to be, i am humbled,but boy do i love life. all the best kev

    Posted by kev on 29/01/2009 22:47:44

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30. hi hugh my dear partner brought me a present in the form of a chicken, i was astounded by the idea - at first as i dont do animals, they bite and i dont do animals. We now have 5 chickens and boy are they spoilt - they eat better than us and i love them. i never thought chickens could be so funny and actually have unique personalities - they do, you know what i mean. i think we will get some more in time and i can hardly wait - never though i would say that about a chicken. so would i eat cheap chicken NO-WAY, you have to understand an animal and respect it in order to connect with it. we are going to grow our own food this year as well im looking forward to the satisfaction factor of eating a meal we have produced ourselves, just wish we had more space to be able to produce more and possibly have more animals (i must be mad!)

    Posted by jen smith on 29/01/2009 17:25:01

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31. we have recently had a new bathroom fitted and r going to use our old bath to grow potatoes in what time of year do we need to plant the seed potatoes ?

    Posted by graham johnson on 28/01/2009 18:48:53

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32. Hi there, I have a tiny back yard, in a very cold and northerly Aberdeen. Last year I got ill with Lyme disease and since then seem to have mainly gardened in my dressing gown! I grow potatoes in an old footstool, salad leaves in old wine boxes, strawberries in tower pots, tomatoes in baskets, peas in windowboxes fastened to fences and trellis, runner beans in a raised bed made of an old door, corgettes in the same raised bed, rhubarb in a big pot, herbs in flowerpots, chard in wine boxes, garlic inbetween nasturtiums. I have collected tons of brambles and rose hips from the derelict pig farm across the main road from my estate and even found some escaped/feral rhubarb planted there which was very tasty. I made rowan Jelly with the berries from my only tree. Amazing what you can grow in a such a small space with a very short growing season, mostly shade due to tall neighbours wall and frosts into late May.

    Posted by dressing gown gardener on 28/01/2009 18:28:33

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33. Hello, At the end of your programme the other night you mentioned about hearing from people that may be gardening in an unusual way. After spending sometime in Bulgaria growing and keeping animals I became acquainted with permaculture (not widely practised there except in a small community of people). I tried some of the ideas over there and found them to be incredibly sensible and productive. I like the idea of adding organic matter to the earth rather than depleting it very much, and the whole ethos behind permaculture seems to make sense, especially with the ecological challenges we now face. I am based in East Kent with lots of land and a competetive father! We are in the process of conducting a lighthearted competition on the same plot with 2 beds - his a fairly traditional design, and mine a mandala/keyhole bed system using permi techniques to guide me. I am excited about this as the climate here is very different and I will be up against problems I haven't encountered before. The whole thing will hopefully be experimental fun!! I have selected a circular plot which was totally covered in establshed grass. Without digging a thing I have mulched it well with cardboard, straw and chicken manure, and will continue to build up layers until the growing season begins. My fathers plot is a traditional dug over bed. Any ideas/questions/chat on the subject most welcome.

    Posted by Sophie Roberts on 28/01/2009 11:33:15

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34. Hello we live in a fairly run down council estate, and at the moment we have chickens, ducks, and quails, and have more ducks in the incubator as we speak. We are also planning to breed and rear some bantams, as well as our own veg plot. We also have just been given an allotment from the local council which we waited for, for about a year, which is great especially for our 3 young daughters. We would love somewhere bigger but we make use of the room we have, so anything is possible if you put your mind to it!!! Love the river cottage series only problem is, not enough episodes!!! Thanks and keep up the good work! Viv and Martin.

    Posted by Vivienne & Martin on 28/01/2009 09:44:18

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35. hi hugh im am 21 and have my own allotment near heathrow airport i got the allotment from watching rivercottage and i wound like to have some more land for my own aminals cant wait for your new rivercottage to come tv whats the best way to grow spinage

    Posted by declan on 27/01/2009 21:48:22

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36. Good man for taking on Tesco. We need more like you. We follow you and your programmes with great interest, and love your books, your commitment and integrity. Well done.

    Posted by Carole Foster on 27/01/2009 17:18:30

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37. Dear Hugh I am a manager of a day centre for the elderly i've watched your very interesting programme last night.We are undertaking a programme at the moment which involves a chicken pen and vegetable patch at our day centre , At least 80% of our client's who visit our day centre on a daily basis have dementia and alzheimer's ,In the past they have had their own allotment's and remmeber growing vegetable's in the war year's ,Any advice you could give us on the keeping of chicken's and growing of the vegetable's we are looking to use the holistic approach considering the compleate person, The age group of our client's is between fifties and upward's ,Any feedback you could offer us or advice would be greatly appreciated,your's thankfully Pauline.

    Posted by Pauline clarke on 27/01/2009 16:50:57

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38. i moved to the highlands 2 years ago living on a farm and enrolled on a local food network course to learn to grow my own food we are 500 ft above see level not far from ben wyvis this is my first year at lambing myself and it will soon be time for the poly tunnel to up we had a green house but soon got wrecked by highwinds the best thing about living were i am is spring water on tap .

    Posted by elmofud on 27/01/2009 15:49:28

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39. Having got married last year I had to give up my lovely allotment (Ah the sacrifices for love!)when I moved in with my better half to her first floor maisonette in Urban Surrey! She had a 7x5m plot out the back which I converted into a lawn (cos the misses likes them) a deck for barbeques (cos I like them!)and a raised bed for salads and veg. The rest was planted with herbs and flowers and kept us supplied with rocket, lettuce, radishes, spring onions, carrots and courgettes the whole summer. Certainly not self-sufficent yet but it gave our diet a freshness that money can't buy all summer long. With our first child due any day now we're looking forward to getting it out into the open air to watch daddy mucking about in the garden! Still working on her indoors regarding livestock (I think I need a slightly bigger plot!) All power to your industrious elbows!

    Posted by Paul Robertson on 27/01/2009 13:56:10

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40. We have abandoned shopping in Tesco's now in a protest to their policy of putting every obstacle in Hugh's way. OK it's only one customer. But as they say, Every little helps!!! We are a young family with two small children. We have a small garden in Huddersfield and in that small garden we put in a vegetable plot. It's about 2 meters wide and maybe 10 meters long. Last year we grew Sweetcorn, Lettuce, Cauliflowers, Broccoli, Beetroots, Onions, Leeks, Marrows, Sprouts, Peas and Dwarf Beans. We also put a small greenhouse in and grew Chilli's, Peppers, Tomatoes and Cucumbers. Behind the greenhouse we also have a bee hive which produced over 130lbs of Honey. This year we are extending the vegetable plot by about another 5 meters and are also trying Potatoes, Cabbages, Asparagus, Runner Beans, Gooseberries and Blueberries. We have just discovered that the leaves of sprouts make excellent spring greens! Were learning something new every week and our kids are learning where their food comes from. It's amazing just what we have discovered you can grow in a suburban garden!!

    Posted by Jason Clegg on 27/01/2009 13:08:05

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41. Hi Hugh we r in our 3rd yr of growing our own fruit and veg. We live in County Durham and have our own allotment, we grow everything ourselves as we r a family of 5,we also have 28 hens and 3 cockrels we mostly have rhode islands,2 of the cockels r buffs and the other is a banty. The whole family enjoy growing the veg and collecting the eggs.We never miss your shows no matter what, the info u share is extremly useful.The school that the 2 youngests attend also have their own veggie plot so we set extra toms,beetroot,lettuces ect away 4 the kids 2 take into school. The allotment when we first got it took alot of hard work and alot of long hours but its now all ready 2 start again next month there is nothing like home grown veggies and the kids learn alot 2, cause before we started this they probably didnt know what, how and where fruit and veg came from,but they see and taste the difference and now they will try any veg but it has got 2 b from the allotment and not the supermarket which is good.Thanks very much for all the help and advise your show has given us and we will continue 2 watch.

    Posted by Eka&Ally Jude on 27/01/2009 12:42:00

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42. With just a little effort and vision anyone can successfully grow their own vegetables etc and it is far more satisfying to know 100% what you are eating. I only have to take inspiration from my next door neighbour, who despite having a large garden to grow his veg is unable to tend his garden. However, among the tall grass he has his large container pots and last year had fantastic crops of potatoes, runner beans, carrots, tomatoes, and marrow .... all grown in large tubs. His produce was better than neighbours using traditional methods of vegetable gardening! I tried the same technique with my runner beans (using a wig wam cane structure), tomatoes, chilli and peppers, but in September I brought the tomato, chilli and pepper pots into my conservatory to grow on. The last yield of tomatoes was in early December, but the chilli and pepper plants are still producing in an unheated conservatory. I placed the plants against the house wall and it is in a south facing position. I think this is possibly the secret of my success. So .......if you are thinking you have no space for growing vegetables or the soil feels unworkable, you can still do it, and there is so much satisfaction in eating the fruits of your labours, easy style!

    Posted by Pauline on 27/01/2009 10:48:49

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43. Dear Hugh, I find the current trends very exciting and congratulate you in confronting the supermarket giants. I am a head at a small consisting of 88 children and 64 families. Our school is situated on the edge of affluent Tunbridge Wells but we are not affluent!! I have dedicated, enthusiastic, loyal stafff and every child enjoys coming to school. We have a raised bed for every class and recently awarded a Healthy Schools Award. The numbers of children choosing to have a school lunch has increased from 30 meals in Sept 07 to 80 meals in 2008. As a result of this we were recognised by the LEA who contributed for the school kitchen to be updated. This meant that the kitchen was reduced and we have created a Home Economics room funded by the school. It also serves as a meeting room for parents. We would like some serious promotion within Tunbridge Wells and wondered whether you would be available in the Spring to officially open our Home Economics room where children and families will cook together. We are encouraging families to adopt a raised bed and we are using the expertise of our staff and members of our local allotments. Parents are regualarly invited to have lunch with the children which has proven very popular. It is the second year that parents have been invited to have Christmas lunch with us. We have recently received some funding from Tunbridge Wells Borough Council for more soil, additional tools etc At the Parents' Forum they expressed an interest in the school having hens and we propose to have 6 hens in the Spring. All of this is in the interest for our children and families to grow and learn together. People are keen and have many skills and I feel they need to be recognised for their achievement. I fully understand that you have a many other commitments but we would be very keen for your time and enthusiasm. Regards Jane

    Posted by Jane Florey on 27/01/2009 09:37:09

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44. Having grown my own veg for 37years and recently loosing my "allotment" I was at a very sad loss ! I started working at a holiday care centre for the disabled and noticed a piece of land 5mtr by 2mtr and asked if i could grow some potatoes there . i got an okay and last season whacked in 24 Kestrel tubers and produced around 40/50kg of beautiful spuds with very little effort :) .

    Posted by Andre Rogulski on 27/01/2009 08:12:57

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45. We've set up a mini Landshare of our own in the garden of a large terraced council property in the Brockley conservation area in Lewisham, south-east London. The plot - 100ft by 40ft - is thick with brambles, alkanet and mounds of rubbish left by previous tenants and council contractors. Five friends, including one of the property's four tenants, have got together to improve the garden on a ZERO budget. So far we've double-dug half the plot in the past three weeks. We're planning to build eight raised beds for veg plus flower beds, lay a lawn and erect a polytunnel for tomatoes etc. The topsoil is superb, at least 2-3 ft deep, because this area was all market gardens supplying produce for central London in the nineteenth century. If the brick garden walls are sound enough, we'd like to grow some espaliered fruit trees on them. We will also have a play area and a flower bed for the four children who live in the house. We're scrounging everything we can and are desperate for materials. So far, a local tree surgeon has offered to supply wood chippings for the paths between the raised beds, and a local builder's merchant has offered some materials. But we also need timber for the raised beds and a compost heap. Three of the participants kickstarted the project because they wanted land on which to grow their own veg. The residents are delighted that they will at last have use of their garden, although only one of them has so far expressed interest in growing their own vegetables. I think the Landshare project would be really applicable in this area, especially for anyone wanting to grow their veg. The gardens are large, many of them 80-100ft long, and often too big for their owners to manage. Many of them are neglected or ridiculously carved up into three or four ugly plots. As I mentioned the soil is amazing. Is anyone interested in setting up a similar project nearby and exchanging notes? Perhaps we could get BrocSoc, the local conservation group, interested?

    Posted by Kookmg on 26/01/2009 23:34:15

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46. Hello! At the grand old age of 25 and 26 all our friends think we are completely bonkers! 2 and a half years ago we managed to buy our first house together. It may have only been a mid terraced house that needed lots of work but to us it was heaven and it had a major advantage-a 150' garden, it was rather thin but it gave us our own bit of land. We started growing a few veggies with a mixed successes learning with everything we did. We then saved up and bought a green house which helped us grow a lot more. My husband can be regularly seen in there on an early weekend morning in his dressing gown and wellies-he just can't wait to get out there. Last summer we got married I have always had a thing about ducks and we didn't want a conventional theme to our wedding so we suddenly hit on the idea of ducks! There were wooden ducks everywhere all looking smart with duck egg blue ribbons on and all the tables were named after different duck breeds. I had always wanted some real ducks and chickens so for my wedding present my lovely husband bought me 2 ducks and 2 chickens. Getting the run in the garden was exciting it had to go over 4 fences thank God for lovely neighbours-everyone pitched in! We have always been aware of trying to eat good quality meat from well looked after animals and got to know the local butchers and worked out ways to make the meat we do buy stretch further to save on cost. Having our own birdies made us even more aware of the conditions that other animals didn't have quite such a nice life as ours. We loved having our own fresh eggs and the chickens loved helping us with the veggie patch. It soon got us thinking about the meat we ate and how we could eat better. For Christmas I had the biggest smile on my face as my husband had bought me an incubator so we could get started on our meat chicken project. The first egg hatched last Tuesday, it was one of the most exciting things I have ever seen. Sadly only one hatched so at the weekend we got it a couple of mates so it would know it was a chicken and not a human or a cat. The chicks are lovely they have just enjoyed sitting on the sofa watching Hugh's latest chicken program, we kept telling them how lucky they are! They will be meat chickens we are determined not to lose sight of that but at least we will know they have had a really happy life. We have had mixed reactions from friends and people. Some people think it’s a great project and want to get involved especially in the eating; others are utterly appalled and disgusted with us. Apparently it horrible knowing your food much better to get your chicken nicely cleanly wrapped where they don't have to pay a thought to the tightly packed barn it has spent its very short sad life in. We are planning in having a celebration when we eat our first chicken we will know what it has eaten and the life it has had. Our next plan is to get an allotment, we have had our name down for a while and we will hopefully get to the top of the list before the summer. A smallholding would be lovely but is a distant dream so at the moment we will stick with what we have got-its amazing what you can do with a town terraced house garden.

    Posted by Chloe and Paul Shilling on 26/01/2009 23:02:35

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47. We live near the top of Carn Marth in Cornwall.Carn Marth is 771ft above sea level so we are very exposed.We are now in our third year of vegetable and fruit growing.It is very challenging and it is a case of trial and error.Our fruit cage for instance is heavily roped down!We have plenty of windbreak and manure from our pony.We can grow most things with a little thought.Runner beans for instance can cope in a wigwam.A row wont stay upright!Its so lovely to eat seasonally as I did as a child.Those first beans,those first tomatoes etc.We rarely buy veg.this year we have had to buy carrots (organic of course) as ours were attacked by carrot fly.I have an old tin bath so am going to try growing in that this year.From our hill we can see as far as St. Ives in one direction and Bodmin and Brown Willy in the other. Carry on the good work. Marion Curnow

    Posted by Mazda on 26/01/2009 22:39:34

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48. Last year, with lots of help from friends and neighbours I removed a half-built concrete block shed and the concrete slab upon which it stood from my garden. The work took place over several months until I was finally able to use the space for my new veg plot. I couldn't afford to buy topsoil at the time, but managed to acquire enough for about half the plot from the Freecycle network here in Cheltenham, enough to plant up runner beans and 'courgettes', which turned out to be pumpkins :-) (I didn't label the pots when I planted the seeds and got them mixed up!). Last autumn I managed to get enough topsoil to fill the rest of my little plot (again from Freecycle). As I didn't get anything in to over-winter I am desperate for spring to start so that I can start planting!! My 5-year old son will be out there with me planting and watering, and of course eating the produce. This will be my first year with a 'proper' veg patch and as always I will be watching you for inspiration and information. This year I'm going to try my hand at broad beans, beetroot, leeks and parsnips, as well as good old runner beans (I know I can grow them!). Wish me luck! Roo

    Posted by Roo on 26/01/2009 22:31:25

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49. hi i am thinking of growing my own food but i havnt a clue were to start i used to grow leeks when i was a kid 4 the leek show what would be the best to grow beginners and how i would be gateful for any advice also i go fishing every 2weeks on the boat in season and would be gratefull for any good but simple recipes on sea fish thanks mick

    Posted by michael renwick on 26/01/2009 22:24:56

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50. Hi, My daughter gave my wife a rescue goat---Gloria-- as a companion to her horse.After a while G decide come into milk as a maiden so, facing 1.5 litres a day, I learnt to make cheese. I now barter or give the cheese to friends.Gloria is a happy girl and friends seem to enjoy the cheese! Regards, Jon. (Curator, Burghley House.)

    Posted by lenteped on 26/01/2009 22:19:37

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51. Hello fellow "Own grower's" i am a 16 year old from Manchester i have a allotment with my dad and my three uncles Pete, Keith and Geff all have allotment my uncle Geff and Keith have fruit and veg allotments so to speak and my uncle pete grows chickens (not for eating) but eggs i enjoy helping out on the allotments as much as possible and like all "Own growers" thinks Hugh and the river cottage team are LEGEND'S well would like to hear from anyone from adam.

    Posted by Adam Pilkington on 26/01/2009 22:19:07

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52. Instead of converting my front garden into car parking area - as many houses have done in the area - I have dug the lawn up and have built a pond and vegetable garden - The frogs will hopefully keep the slugs and snails away! Paths are made of re-claimed quarry tiles dug up from my cellar... So, I have made something aesthetically pleasing, good for wildlife, good for nutrition and sustainability, and I am not contributing to water run off, raising the water table... I love it!

    Posted by Hilary Barber on 26/01/2009 22:12:25

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53. We are The Lakes School in Windermere, Lake District. We are getting the kids involved in many project regarding 'growing your own' and producing food in an Eco-frienddly/sustainable way. Early days but we're hopeful of good things! You are an inspiration ttfn Jonathan

    Posted by Jonathan Ellams on 19/01/2009 15:06:37

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54. Hi Hugh, can I say you have really inspired my children, they are really interested and can't wait to start growing. We did a small ammount of our own growing last summer but this spring we want 2 go bigger and better but there are a lot of cats around will they harm anything? Can't wait to start planting and growing !!

    Posted by Samantha on 15/01/2009 21:39:37

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55. Hi Hugh Both judy and i attended your spring and autumn fairs in fact i was the first to sample your elderflower champange, and very nice it was too. we are both in our late forties and live in a4 bed semi in a normal street in Walton on Thames in Surrey, the home of chelsea footballs, celebs like mick hucknal, gary linaker, max clifford etc. Weve always tried to grow our own and do the self surfficient bit, for as long a i can remember weve kept chickens usualy hatching them our selves, at the moment we have a 5 week old goose who spends his nights in our kitchen also more eggs in the incubator as we speak. A few years ago we were selected along with 3 other familys to be on a show called THE REALY GOOD LIFE but due to budget cut only 3 families went through and we were dropped, it was a close escape the show was awful and i think it was pulled after 2 shows. NOW We are in a fortunate posistion of being able to take thing a lot easier and are semi retired. Back in the summer we were lucky enough to be able to rent a 5 acre field from a family member, it needed a lot of clearing, but what fun weve had, we bought 3 piglets in june, reared them on only the best food, collected thousands and i do mean thousands of apples from our local waste land , loved them, applied sun block when they started to go a bit red when we did get some sun, and then took them to slaughter, that was not a high light but a neccessity, then for 4 days made everything from sausages to parma ham (still drying in my shed. we spent all our spare time in the summer making chuckneys, jams, wines and beers most were given as xmas pressies,We also have 4 sheep, rescue chickens and a bee hive. Our plans for this year are to expanned all of the above, with a greatly increased vegi patch and to eat our own goose for xmas and supply turkeys to friends and family along with a good flock of duck, come april we also hope for some lambs to arrive thats if my boy isnt all ba ba.We have also agreed to purchase a 4 acre field next to the field we are renting. As i say we are in our late forties semi retiered and starting to live the dream, Thanks for taking the time to read this and carry on with the goog work. Regards Clive Hawkins

    Posted by clive & judy hawkins on 13/01/2009 18:58:24

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56. Hi Hugh, I have to say ever since you first came onto our screens you have been an inspiration to us and our 6 old son, we have your books, your dvds and last April 08 we started growing our own food on our very own allotment too. Which we massivley enjoyed, we also grow in our small front garden and in our modest back garden, infact any where we can really, even in hanging baskets... Given half the chance we would love a small holding, but maybe sometime in the future we could achieve that?? Who knows? This will be our first full year on the allotment, and have found it to be a great asset, in the obvoius way of saving money, but also to our general well being, of being out in the fresh air as a family. We took lots of photos of our allotment before and as we went along, and of course of our produce - even our first homegrown pumpkin which was used for halloween!! It would be great to hear back from you, as we all love your work and our 6 year old is always askin to watch "Cottage" as he calls it. I know you are very busy and will have alot of emails to get through, but would value any correspondance to us. Many thanks for your help so far, look forward to hearing from you hopefully?? Kind regards Sarah, Gene and Jack Henry

    Posted by Sarah Henry on 11/01/2009 10:37:26

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57. Hi huge love the progrme and ll that you are tring to do in encouriging people to grow there own produce, we have a small garden and try to grow the normal stuf which is very satisfiying we also bring peppers and chillies back from Romania and Hungary, which you cant get here, the chillies can be rather hot some times, any way keep up the good work, cant wait for the land share to begin

    Posted by andy b on 09/01/2009 14:14:33

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58. We have what we like to call a mid terraced smallholding in Huddersfield. Since we moved in in July 2006 we have steadily developed our back garden and house to life as sustainably as we can. We run a conservation business and work for local environmental groups and growing and producing our own food is how we relax and enjoy ourselves. Our sloping back garden has been split into three areas. We built the large chicken run at the top of garden as soon as we moved in and rescued 4 battery hens, which have kept us in eggs up until recently. We now have 3 Rhode Island Reds. The main area of the garden is the vegetable plot, it probably supplies us with 80% of our vegetables. Unfortunately not sweetcorn (Its a touchy subject!) as i've been unable to get them to ripen at all yet. Clare has had much more success with her salads, cauliflower (which made the best piccalilli ive ever tasted)and outdoor cucumbers. We have 2 compost bins and a home made wormery which helps us keep the soil in good condition. It also reduces the amount of times we have to carry bags of compost through the house. We have a berry bed which is great in the summer, blueberries, bilberries and strawberries are abundant if we get there before the blackbirds. I have had to build a watertight outdoor cupboard to store all of the jams, chutneys, pickles, preserves and beverages we produce through the year. We enjoy making our own tipples. I have 7 gallons of cider doing very nicely behind the sofa in the lounge and last years elderflower champagne was a huge success. We have built a large patio area and i've built a bbq, recycling an old bbq found at the local tip. Every warm evening we have had we have spent soaking up the last of the sun on the patio enjoying home grown and home cooked meals, gowing through the plate and counting how many of the ingredients we have produced ourselves. Frequently we produce the whole plate full. We are also able get very good quality meat. We frequently get full or half a lamb from our family and it gives me an opportunity to practice my butchering skills, or lack of them....as the case may be. At least once the lamb has only recently been killed when we have got it and we have had to hang it here, and with no outbuildings or shed space the only place was the shower! Last summer we had half a pig, we produced our own dry cured bacon ,hanging it a cardboard box with purple material covering the cut out sides to allow air circulation, and hanging it in the shade. we made hams for Christmas, traditional pork pies and had a huge amount of fun making sausages. It is amazing what is possible on a small scale, some planning and some effort and the results can be spectacular. Mick Smith

    Posted by Mick Smith on 09/01/2009 13:48:25

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59. Hi All, Last year my mother, a keen gardener of the flower variety, got an allotment nearby to try get the family together to provide our own veg, Some work has been done, and for the first time this weekend, 3 generations will be gathered together there to start work on our own self sustaining patch. Due to the location the only livestock we may be able to have are Bees, this obviously benefits the whole allotment, but the practicalities have only just begun. But without doubt This show has mostly affected my farther, my girlfriend and I who have decreed to only eat meat which we have sourced ourselves, I’d be happy to let you know how I get on learning to fish again after a good 20 years as it may be some time before I catch for the table, at least I can still pot a rabbit or two, I also intent to learn the fine art of mushroom picking but living in Leeds its not a easy pastime to find mentors in! for now were getting by on enthusiasm and a couple of good books. Thank you for your inspiration.

    Posted by Hallas Family on 09/01/2009 12:07:30

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60. My family and I live in Plymouth we have an end terrace house with a small front and back garden and for the last year we have turned our postage stamp sized garden into a micro holding. .We built a hen house and have four laying hens, we hatched 14 chicks and reared them and 4 turkeys for the table. We have grown as much veg as possible this year even turning part of our front garden this year into a veg / friut plot. I kept bees as a teenager I wanted to introduce my son to beekeeping, so we are just gearing up having bought 2 hives in the autumn we are putting together the frames and waxes ready for bees in April May. I have been experimenting with making mead in the mean time with shop bought honey when I can find honey without eucalyptus nectar in it . We are making our own cheese and built a cold smoker which has proved very successful with cheese. As one of our Turkeys (George) was over 30lbs we made half of him into sausages with port and cranberries which are fantastic. Our crab pots turned up this week ready to try some shore based crab / lobster fishing at the next really low tide, however we couldnt wait that long and went foraging at low water on New Years eve coming home with 3 kilos of mussels which were wonderful steamed in garlic white wine and cream, we froze 2 kilos for future meals. I have learned again to bottle fruits, made apple and black berry jelly / jam, chutneys, fruit cheeses and home made fruit wine.This year we made a decision not to use our storage heaters in the winter as I installed a wood burner a few years ago with a back boiler. So we switched to wood to heat the house. I take down trees for free for people; taking the wood in exchange. We have had plenty to heat the house so far even though it has been colder than recent years. It has been a hugely rewarding year. To record our journey of discovery Matthew and I built a website to chart our progress, sucesses and failures all of which have taught us so much and given us a great deal of pleasure. Thanks to Hugh for your inspiration and down to earth practicality, imagine what we could do with a bigger plot of land, we dream on. With much gratitude from TimRos & Matt

    Posted by Tim Ros & Matt Payne on 09/01/2009 09:19:18

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61. After nearly 40 years of organic vegetable growing, we've decided to try lunar gardening this year (with a bit of biodynamics as well). We are hoping to improve yields. If you have any advice to offer we would be extremely grateful. Otherwise, if you are interested, we'll let you know how we get on.

    Posted by Anita on 08/01/2009 23:14:44

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62. Hi Hugh, I'm just approaching my second season of growing my own. My large rear garden in my ex council estate/housing assoc property, has been divided to give me 1/3 an allotment. Last year I did quite well as a new gardener but ended up giving alot of my produce away to family, especially to my mum, but I was growing for her too so that was ok, still, I would like to know how to maximise my own receipt from my produce before giving it it away. My neighbour and I are both RC fans and he has been helping me learn the ropes as he is an avid gardener and competition chrysanthemum grower, I personally have started this basis of self-sufficiency because of RC, I would love a small holding or even just chickens in my garden, but because I live in a fallout estate I can't so veg/small fruit growing is as far as I can go. So this said I would like to ensure I get the most of my efforts in growing. The financial climate as it is and me being a single parent I'm not always able to afford organic produce from the shops, I have embraced the cost effective and educational idea of growing your own. My young son avidly joins in with the growing season and loves the fact he can eat what he grows. I want to carry on and wish to inspire others to join the plan of GYO and the idea of excess space available to local communities for this purpose is great, I am an advocate and wish I could make it work in my local area! The taste, the quality, even the fun of a day in the garden with the kids, and the benefits are far, far better than an expensive trip to a local supermarket and I wish many more people/families would realise this. So many families, one parent or two throw so much of their precious time aside through work and other commitments but this is the ideal way to have at least an hour a week together. Also in an age where we have to be more environmentally conscious, what better way to educate our children than growing and naturally nuturing our own food, without huge trucks and clouds of pesticides being used in order to get this simple most fundamental food to us in a so-called fresh condition? River cottage and all its ethics are so important in our home and I will carry on with the growing my own in my little garden plot. I don't have a small holding yet with cows and pigs and chickens etc but maybe one day, I have my dreams!!! Thanks Hugh! xx

    Posted by Lianne Hanson on 08/01/2009 21:41:47

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63. My husband and I started by growing our own vegetables 4 yrs ago and now we have acquired another 35 acres of land, rear our own Water Buffalo for meat & dairy, rare breed Berkshire Pigs, rare breed chickens and ducks. One thing seemed to have lead to another, spurred on by River Cottage and by our friends and neighbours support. We now have a line of 8 award winning sausages and are experimenting with cheese making and have planted an orchard. Our next project is to have a collection of 7 traditional rare breed weaners in May 2009 for school visits to the farm and local events followed by a nationwide pork tasting of each breed compared to the commercial supermarket pork.

    Posted by Flexmore Farm on 08/01/2009 21:20:25

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64. Hi I am a huge fan of this programme and it has taught me you can grow things well i am trying I have 2 grandchildren and i want to start them with a thing called the three susters but i have very sandy soil seeing how i live in Southport right next to the sea. Could you give me some advice as to how I can make the soil ready to plant the 3 sisters these being corn butternut squash and beans. any advise would be helpfull thank Mrs Susan Bellini

    Posted by Susan on 08/01/2009 21:10:24

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65. 3 years ago, when I was terribly addicted to Pringles (Honestly...they were always on offer 2 for 1 !) , I saved all the tubes and grew carrots in them...one per tube so I needed to eat enough Pringles to get a decent crop :)) I had them on all m window sills...much to the surprise of my boyfriend when he first went into my bedroom and noticed all the tubes of Pringles by the window...full of greenery ! I have to add that the harvest was very successfull, magnificent carrots although the first time round I did the mistake of using a too rich compost so ended up with lots of foliage & small carrots. I also sometimes overwatered them. Both issues were resolved the year after, by piercing a couple of holes at the bottom of the tubes and using plain soil as opposed to compost. Happy growing ! PS: The butchering lessons were good, but I would love to see how to debone a shoulder of lamb. We slaughter 5 lambs eahc year for the freezer, and I really make a mess each time I try to debone the shoulder, always ending with something impossible to roll unless surgical stitches get involved....

    Posted by Pringles on 08/01/2009 21:09:33

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