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I love pointing to a jar of chutney, knowing I've grown all the ingredients used to make it. I don't make too much chutney every year, because - despite living in a house of carnivores - I'm the only one who eats it.  Isn't cold meat, crusty white

with genetic make-up as it does with horticultural aptitude.  The subject was on my mind a while back when I went on my annual pilgrimage to see my mate Natasha in Rugby who tends to three plots. Her acreage backs on to a plot owned by John, a lovely man who

Catalogue has been listing obscure varieties like melon 'Collective Farm Woman' from Ukraine for years. The company operated as a 'seed club' to get round regulations, but it's only now that eastern European seed varieties are making an impact

and make sure you keep the middle of the plant open - the idea is to create a sort of goblet shape to allow plenty of air to circulate through the plant to prevent mildew.If redcurrants are what you're after, there are around 40 types grown at Wisley, which

't have to be chitted to grow well and should actually be planted without the buds having appeared. So, I planted one lot of chitted potatoes and had planted another group of unchitted potatoes planted at the same time. It didn't seem to make a huge

is best: things which are translucent often work well when the light comes from behind causing a kind of halo or glow when they are back-lit.4. If you want to provide some artificial shade, you can rig up an inexpensive diffuser by making a rectangular

to having an allotment will inevitably mean a reappraisal of your garden at home. The most sensible thing to do is to make the garden as low-maintenance as possible, while still keeping the whole space a pleasant place to relax with family and friends.If you

Readers of this blog may recall that I have recently 'delegated' the compost-making in the family to my husband. He's so taken by his new role that I sometimes catch him slipping gardening books into his shoulder bag in the morning to read

, morello cherries are a fabulous ingredient to have around (don't compare the real thing to the soggy, sorry, tinned cherries). Their tangy tartness makes for a refreshing non-alcoholic cordial. Mix them together with almonds in the form of a Bakewell tart

pots, which gives them a good head start. They'll develop a healthy root system before being planted outside sometime in February or March. Make sure the bulb is sitting about halfway down the pot. Two or three weeks before planting outside, throw down