On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 19:14:23 -0000, "Andy Hunt"
wrote:



They were never too impressed with the cooking, I seem to
remember!

Well, Vietnamese cooking wasn't fashionable in them days.

I think it was Korean. Well, it was a good "Korea" move for Alan Alda, in
any case . . .

Just made a nice root veg stew. Nothing like cooking a stew on a cold
winter's evening. 'Specially with a generous dash of Lea & Perrins'.

next you'll be asking where you put your dog.
--
Martin

Thanks Jane, some great ideas, I appreciate your post. B&Q do some
nice-looking plastic "half barrels", which are nice and deep but not too
unweildy, and look like the classic wooden barrels sawed in half. I've
already got a couple, but will probably get a load more for the sake of
aesthetic continuity. My garden is South-facing which is handy, but there is
shadow at the bottom of the garden where the garden wall obscures the sun,
so I will probably use that area for compost heap, water butt etc.

I like the idea of courgettes - that's one veg I hadn't thought of. Sliced,
tossed in peppered flour and sauteed 'til they're crispy. Deeeelish!

I'll get the garlic in now, then. I was looking at some "jumbo garlic" -
I've never used any in cooking, is it as strong as "normal" garlic, or is
the taste weaker because of the size of the bulb? I might try the "jumbo
garlic" in a pot, to maximise my crop . . . there's a fantastic European
market outside Manchester town hall at the minute, they have huge strings of
smoked garlic - you should smell the stuff, it's olfactory ecstasy! And as
for the hot mulled wine . . . hmmmm! :-)

There's sometimes a French market in Ramsbottom too, but I've never seen the
smoked garlic there. So I have to make do with half a ton of real French
cheese and red wine . . . life is hard up North!

Andrew
"A five-year-old child could understand this. Go out and find me a
five-year-old child" - Marx


Until I got my allotment I grew marrows/courgettes quite successfully
in growbags. As long as you drown them every day, they do very well. I
grew them as a girl in the Peak District, and they are probably the
main reason I love growing veg today. (That's my excuse and I'm
sticking to it.)

Dad (who still lives there) grows his runner beans in a large pot at
the sunny end of the garden: I think it was one of the Wickes specials
- a fiver for a huge black plastic thing with rope handles. Each year
he fills it with the cheapest compost he can find and gets a great
crop.

I've also grown carrots in a pot (you don't get forked roots if
they're in a sieved peat and John Innes mixture, or even neat JI) and
last year I accidentally grew a huge butternut squash indoors in a pot
(5 fruits). I say accidentally as it was supposed to be temporary
while the frosts finished, but it grew too fast and so stayed potted.
The only reason it didn't move outside was cos it was growing up the
cucumber supports by then...

Spuds are great in a pot. So are shallots, garlic and just about every
other allium. Plant garlic now. I always grow my chillies in pots and
tomatoes in hanging baskets.

Another good organic way of keeping slugs/snails off is by using a
moat. Buy pot saucers which are far too big for the pot base, and
stand the pot on pot feet or stones, well above the saucer edge level.
Fill the saucer with water. Make sure it is kept topped up, which
should happen anyway if you water daily. Also has the advantage of
keeping the pots well-drained.

Good luck

--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove onmaps from replies, thanks!

Just made a nice root veg stew. Nothing like cooking a stew on a cold
winter's evening. 'Specially with a generous dash of Lea & Perrins'.

next you'll be asking where you put your dog.

Spooky - I was just reading a Chinese cookery book called "101 ways to wok
your dog" . . .

Andrew
"It isn't pollution that's causing the change in our climate. It's the
impurities in our air and water that are doing it" - George W Bush

The message
from martin contains these words:
On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 13:39:14 GMT, Jaques d'Alltrades
wrote:
The message
from martin contains these words:
On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 10:29:21 GMT, Jaques d'Alltrades
wrote:
The message
from martin contains these words:

and you're only allowed to make jam from
fruit......

says you.

Saus EC.

saus-age?

sauce?

Worst.

worst jam I ever had was ...

My mother was a physioterrorist, and she had a new patient. As always
she asked for the usual details: name, address, telephone (if any - this
was early 'fifties) job - - -

"Pipper."

"What's a pipper?" asks she.

"Oh, we make jams from mangolds, and I man the machine which turns wood
into raspberry pips."

She never asked for a (jam) sample though.

--
Rusty Hinge http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/tqt.htm

Dark thoughts about the Wumpus concerto played with piano,
iron bar and two sledge hammers. (Wumpus, 15/11/03)

there's a fantastic European
market outside Manchester town hall at the minute, they have huge strings
of
smoked garlic - you should smell the stuff, it's olfactory ecstasy!

We have one in Leeds too. But be careful of 'smoked garlic'. I bought some,
very enthusiastically, and was very disappointed to find that it was a
string of garlic which had been sprayed with liquid smoke. The smoke flavour
doesn't penetrate the bulbs at all, even if you don't mind artificial wool
being pulled over your eyes you'll be missing the full effect of real smoked
garlic :-(

There's sometimes a French market in Ramsbottom too, but I've never seen
the
smoked garlic there. So I have to make do with half a ton of real French
cheese and red wine . . . life is hard up North!

No it isn't, we have extremely fine local (even if you extend that to
British) cheeses which are at least as good as any imported ones - and by
buying them we support local producers.

Mary

I used to enjoy a nice black pudding - always get the ones with the
extra-large gristly bits, they fry up better - before I gave up eating
meat.

There's no meat in black pudding!

I agree about the large pieces of FAT - there shouldn't be any gristle in
black pudding.


Mary

My mother was a physioterrorist, and she had a new patient. As always
she asked for the usual details: name, address, telephone (if any - this
was early 'fifties) job - - -

"Pipper."

"What's a pipper?" asks she.

"Oh, we make jams from mangolds, and I man the machine which turns wood
into raspberry pips."

She never asked for a (jam) sample though.


Hamster jam is good for tulips, I've heard.

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 20:14:28 GMT, Jaques d'Alltrades
wrote:

The message
from martin contains these words:
On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 13:39:14 GMT, Jaques d'Alltrades
wrote:
The message
from martin contains these words:
On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 10:29:21 GMT, Jaques d'Alltrades
wrote:
The message
from martin contains these words:

and you're only allowed to make jam from
fruit......

says you.

Saus EC.

saus-age?

sauce?

Worst.

worst jam I ever had was ...

My mother was a physioterrorist, and she had a new patient. As always
she asked for the usual details: name, address, telephone (if any - this
was early 'fifties) job - - -

"Pipper."

"What's a pipper?" asks she.

"Oh, we make jams from mangolds, and I man the machine which turns wood
into raspberry pips."

She never asked for a (jam) sample though.

My daughter is training to be a physioterrorist I'll pass this tip on.
--
Martin

"Andy Hunt" wrote in message
...


They were never too impressed with the cooking, I seem to
remember!

Well, Vietnamese cooking wasn't fashionable in them days.

I think it was Korean. Well, it was a good "Korea" move for Alan Alda, in
any case . . .

You know, I thought long and hard about this and knew that if I were wrong
I'd be picked up on it. I do know that it was the earlier of the two far
eastern US campaigns, just can't remember which order they came in.

That's what comes of being so young and not remembering.

Or old and the memory failing :-)

Mary

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 21:38:00 -0000, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:



there's a fantastic European
market outside Manchester town hall at the minute, they have huge strings
of
smoked garlic - you should smell the stuff, it's olfactory ecstasy!

We have one in Leeds too. But be careful of 'smoked garlic'. I bought some,
very enthusiastically, and was very disappointed to find that it was a
string of garlic which had been sprayed with liquid smoke. The smoke flavour
doesn't penetrate the bulbs at all, even if you don't mind artificial wool
being pulled over your eyes you'll be missing the full effect of real smoked
garlic :-(

Since 99% of kippers, smoked haddock etc. ... are made the same way in
UK they probably thought that that was what was expected.

It must be fairly simple to smoke your own garlic.

An old oil drum, some oak chips a bit of old sacking and bobs your
uncle.


There's sometimes a French market in Ramsbottom too, but I've never seen
the
smoked garlic there. So I have to make do with half a ton of real French
cheese and red wine . . . life is hard up North!

No it isn't, we have extremely fine local (even if you extend that to
British) cheeses which are at least as good as any imported ones - and by
buying them we support local producers.

We export large quantities of UK cheese each time we visit England.
It's much better than most of the local muck
--
Martin

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 21:38:40 -0000, "Andy Hunt"
wrote:



My mother was a physioterrorist, and she had a new patient. As always
she asked for the usual details: name, address, telephone (if any - this
was early 'fifties) job - - -

"Pipper."

"What's a pipper?" asks she.

"Oh, we make jams from mangolds, and I man the machine which turns wood
into raspberry pips."

She never asked for a (jam) sample though.


Hamster jam is good for tulips, I've heard.

Tulips on your organ joke next?

--
Martin

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 21:42:30 -0000, "Mary Fisher"
wrote:


"Andy Hunt" wrote in message
...


They were never too impressed with the cooking, I seem to
remember!

Well, Vietnamese cooking wasn't fashionable in them days.

I think it was Korean. Well, it was a good "Korea" move for Alan Alda, in
any case . . .

You know, I thought long and hard about this and knew that if I were wrong
I'd be picked up on it. I do know that it was the earlier of the two far
eastern US campaigns, just can't remember which order they came in.

That's what comes of being so young and not remembering.

Or old and the memory failing :-)

are you referring to the Boxer uprising? :-)
--
Martin

In article , Andy Hunt
writes


this thread went to pot a long time ago.

Never touch the stuff.


Anyone know a cure for spider mites?


The biological control works well, but needs warmer temperatures.

A friend told me you can buy "predators" for these things . . . but spider
mites are more of a pain than a threat, I think. I've never heard of them
killing a plant.

I have lost many cacti and various other plants to them. They are most
definitely a threat.


--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

Kay Easton15/12/03 10:25

In article , Andy Hunt
writes
snip

Anyone know a cure for spider mites?


The biological control works well, but needs warmer temperatures.

A friend told me you can buy "predators" for these things . . . but spider
mites are more of a pain than a threat, I think. I've never heard of them
killing a plant.

I have lost many cacti and various other plants to them. They are most
definitely a threat.

Some years ago, I lost some miniature conifers to them, Thuja, IIRC.
They're a menace.


--

Sacha
(remove the 'x' to email me)

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 22:30:04 -0000, "Andy Hunt" wrote:

The latest "urban myth" over here is that Kentucky Fried Chicken changed
their name to simply KFC because the meat isn't chicken any more - it's made
from brainless, artificially-grown muscle-protein derived from the moving
bits of ex-chickens, twitching in the labs as they are artificially
stimulated by electrical impulses.

Good one!

I used to work with a guy who'd worked for KFC in the early 80's. I would not have
believed his vile story about what they did when a kitten walked in through the
kitchen door, but he was such an unsavoury character (and a member of the NF!) it was
hard to disbelieve him.

I'll leave the story to your imaginations.

Liz