I was given some sweetcorn seeds to grow. They were started in pots in the greenhouse. You have to plant them out in a fairly close square formation rather than a line to get good pollination.

They’d been in the greenhouse for about 10 days and were nice little plants, possibly a bit smaller than most people would plant out. They’d been left outside the greenhouse door for a couple of days, but as it’s June they should be fine outside now. Lots of people had already planted theirs out though so perhaps I was just being very cautious. You can plant sweetcorn out directly but I think as with many things you get a better success rate starting them off in pots.

My potatoes are looking good! The orla have flowers on already. They are an early main crop.
The red emalie and ambo are also early maincrops. The colleen are the first earlies and should be ready in about 2 weeks. I planted them all at the same time on the 17th April. Cara and golden wonder are main crop potatoes.

This little green bug was lurking by the comfrey the other day.

And these green eggs were on a leaf

Add plenty of well rotted manure to the soil to ensure you have a healthy soil. This is a good tip for almost everything you want to grow. Feed the soil, not the plants!

Only use proper potatoes sold as seed potatoes. Whilst ones from the supermarket will grow and you can get a good crop they are not guaranteed to be free from disease.
Try blight resistant varieties.
Attend and buy potatoes at potato days organised by good local garden centres. We go to the one in Hulme, Manchester. It is a great place to buy potatoes offering a good choice and value.

Plant where there is good ventilation. Don’t squeeze them into a tiny corner hidden behind fences. Let the air flow.
Plant them early (But protect against frost) so they get more growing time before blight becomes a risk.
Try seaweed solution as a spray for health.
Earth them up. It’ll help get you a better crop too!
Remove affected foliage from plants as soon as it appears.
Compost it – the spores can only live on living tissue, so bury it deep in your heap so it rots down quickly and completely.
Sign up to blightwatch.co.uk for news about blight.
If you are badly affected then remove all the foliage. The potatoes can stay in the ground for a couple more weeks but without the tops won’t really grow much more.
Throw away rotten potatoes from your stored supply. Go through every couple of weeks. A bad smell is a sign of soft mushy potatoes.

I was lucky enough to scrounge some polycarbonate sheeting so I turned some of it into cloches.


The cloche was made from a piece scored along the middle and folded. We did some without ‘hinges’ and some with loops of metal as hinges to hold the top together. Pieces of coat hanger were used to go into the holes at the end to hold them apart.
The wire also is useful for putting rocks on to hold them down.

I have ants in my compost heap (or bed, raised bed, garden, under slabs, outside etc) what do I do?

Ants like to nest in dry places.

So the logical way of getting rid of them is to make their home wet.

You can do this by simply applying water.

If I read one more stupid thread about people being encouraged to go out and buy products to get rid of ants I will scream.
The ants are harmless and will go away if you water their home. Rain water, tap water, doesn’t really matter. If you have money burning a whole in your pocket then go and buy bottled water to pour on them. Do not pour crazy chemicals or ant powders all over your soil.

It’s a waste of money and bad for the soil.

If they’re in a compost bin then leave the lid off and let the rain go in.

If you read on facebook or forums about people suggesting chemicals then just tell them NO!

Garden canes – great value on ebay

I have just ordered some 8ft canes.

3ft x 50 (10-12mm diameter)
3ft x 100 (10-12mm diameter)
3ft x 150 (10-12mm diameter)
3ft x 200 (10-12mm diameter)
3ft x 250 (10-12mm diameter)
4ft x 50 (12-14mm diameter)
4ft x 100 (12-14mm diameter)
4ft x 150 (12-14mm diameter)
4ft x 200 (12-14mm diameter)
4ft x 250 (12-14mm diameter)
5ft x 50 (12-14mm diameter)
5ft x 100 (12-14mm diameter)
5ft x 150 (12-14mm diameter)
5ft x 200 (12-14mm diameter)
6ft x 50 (12-14mm diameter)
6ft x 100 (12-14mm diameter)
6ft x 150 (12-14mm diameter)
7ft x 50 (12-14mm diameter)
7ft x 100 (12-14mm diameter)
7ft x 125 (12-14mm diameter)
8ft x 50 (14-16mm diameter)
8ft x 100 (14-16mm diameter)
8ft x 125 (14-16mm diameter)
10ft x 10 (14-16mm diameter)
10ft x 20 (14-16mm diameter)
10ft x 25 (14-16mm diameter)
10ft x 50 (14-16mm diameter)