"Cat(h)" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Sep 3, 5:37 pm, (Nick Maclaren) wrote:
In article ,Philip Lund
writes:

|
| The book says you mustn't use wallpaper paste that has a fungicide in
| it. I presume that would kill the plants. Unfortunately you only
appear
| to be able to get such paste with fungicide in it these days.

It may also include an algicide, and that could well harm vascular
plant seedlings.

| I did try
| and make a flour paste, but it was a lumpy mess and the seeds, though
| nicely germinated when I put them in it, failed completely to come up.
|
| Please can anyone suggest a substitute product I could buy or an
| idiot-proof recipe for a suitable paste. The technique is too valuable
| to lose.

The following is how to make flour-and-water paste. I don't know
if strong or cake flour would work better, but you must use white,
plain flour.

Stir a small quantity of flour together with a small quantity of
cold water until it forms a smooth paste. Stir in enough more cold
water until it has the texture of very thin cream. Heat it gently,
stirring constantly, until it starts to thicken.

Whenever it starts to thicken, immediately remove it from the heat,
and stir in enough more water of a similar (but not hotter)
temperature to restore it to a thin cream. You are finished when
it has been at boiling point for a couple of minutes with no change.

Under NO circumstances heat it on the stove or by adding hot water
when it has even a proto-lump in it.

You can recover from minor lumpiness by sieving, mixing THOROUGHLY,
and recooking, but major lumpiness is irrecoverable.


Just replace water with milk, season to taste with salt, pepper and
nutmeg, and you have a good bechamel.

Not without butter!

Mary