Gardening tips

The broad beans and the courgettes - both of which came from seed packets I'd been hording for years, have failed to show. So in their place I've planted cucumber. If they come through we'll have an almighty glut of cucumbers - great news cos I love me gherkins (and the dill is coming on strong). If I was really clever I could try making my own malt vinegar - mmmmmm there's a challenge.

It looks as though we'll have plenty of lettuce in a few weeks and the spinach is being equally prolific. The cabbages, carrots and sprouts are looking promising for the winter cropping.

The onions look OK - but something is eating their tops. What eats onions in preference to all the succulent shoots growing around them?

We have a gooseberry bush - and it's fruits are plumbing up nicely and the current bushes will have something of a crop - though they have long been neglected and have suffered through lack of pruning. (The currants here are electric - sorry).

And then there's the continuing supply of rhubarb. But the stems are getting thinner so I think it may be coming to an end, which should help reduce our toilet roll consumption. Incidentally, if ever you're in Germany I recommend that you buy toilet roll - not because it is much cheaper than it is here (which it is) - but because you can get bog roll with all sorts of designs and messages stamped into it. It's gloriously cheesy - way outstrips the Eurovision song contest for entertainment value.

Meanwhile we've started collecting coffee grinds. Allegedly they will protect plants from slugs and snails. I put the first weeks collection down this morning and a quick estimate revealed that the garden should be fully slug proof by October 18th.