Longpodjohn's Outbox

Having worked in IT for too long now and been dealing with Microsoft from day 1, the challenge with a Mac's is they are intuitive where is Microsoft isn't. So I think anyone who has used MS for a long period of time gets used to the quirky nature and 'finds away around' - Mac's just do what they say on the tin .. My next PC is a Mac.

Andrew - Could you tell me why some vegetable families seemingly have two names e.g. Cabbage is referred to as Cruciferae & Brassicaceae??

I'd confirm to go with south facing, you want is as hot as poss., if it gets too much you can always shade. Two summers ago I had the best crop of toms planted out side against the house wall. They were even the much maligned money maker but I have to say incredibly tasty. Last year was pretty poor for me, I love plum toms for tomato sauces but all of them got blight. Even the greenhouse toms didn't fair well. Gdn Delight are a good fav, I'm growing Shirley (supposedly a better money maker), San Marzano (plum) and Gdn Delight.

Re raspberries - definitely outside! Not sure if you are aware most won't fruit in the 1st year, you will need to get Autumn Bliss if you want some pickings this year.

There is a lot of good stuff on www.the-gardeners-calendar.co.uk if you know about RSS feeds you can be prompted what's best to sow / harvest on a weekly basis.

But to try and précis what I have gleaned...

The moon has four basic states - New, Waxing, Full & Waning

The really simple way is sow on a waxing moon and harvest on a waning moon.

The other method just adds a bit more detail to the phases by looking more closely at the moons orbit around the earth e.g. Early Waxing, Late Waxing etc. You need a book (like David’s) or a calendar poster to make this easier. But it's worth noting like any calendar they are only good for one year.

Well as a few of us are having a go we can compare results later??Personally I believe there is an effect but as will anything to do with nature there a other influencing factors hence it's hard to be 'scientific' about it. The basic principle as I understand is the control of water in the ground and given moons gravity controls our oceans it's a fair assumption it will have some effect on the water table etc. What's a bit confusing is there are several different ways to plant by the moon, and then to add to that you have bio-dyanmic gardening too. I find the gardeners calendar.co.uk web site to be pretty useful. I have one of their calendars which makes is pretty easy to know when to plant Fruit, Leaf, Root or Flower plants.. I have seen a gardner who never waters his plants, he just plants, prunes and harvests by the lunar cycle..

Stunning - I love how shallow depth of field give a lovely kaleidoscope effect... your photograpy is inspiring me.

Your Macro photography is excellent - if you haven't tried selling some of these you might consider posting them on some of the online pro websites - with the range you have you may get a calendar! Can I ask what equipment you are using??

WOW - phenomenal shot how did you do it?

Andrew - great explaination thanks.

Thanks Jacque - I should mention like all the celebs the humble veg needs a bit of airbrushing occasionally. I'm a bit of a purest and generally don't alter anthing but the exposure levels (nearly all digital photo's need this) but in this case I did tweat the colour saturation as the toms were a bit flat..

Oh majeekahead - the tool you refered to is a lawn edger :)

<p>Hi Pranathi - majeekahead and Andrewr advice all solid (I wish I had seen this). I can only really comment on my experience on veggies. One comment from majeekahead I would re-enforce is digging two spades deep. It's oftern refered to 'double digging' and depening on your soil type (Clay, Loam etc.) you may need to incorporate some other organic material. He is a link for you too read http://www.iirr.org/saem/page134-137.htm</p><p>if you have poor soil a natural way to get some nutirents and straucture is to grow a green manure, you can buy it online/in some seed shops. If you have large area you may find it cheaper online. There are different type depending on the time of year and speed of growth. I just bought some Tares to prep my brassicas in a few months. http://www.organiccatalog.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=766. </p><p>If you trying to get the max growing space the keyhole method is useful. I just found this links which explains it.. http://myurbangardener.com/keyholebeds.html</p><p>Don't forget is you plan to grow veggies, brassicas in particular over the years you will need to have a crop rotation plan to avoid soil born desises.

Hi Janette - I had a look at some Tobacco plants and I don't think it is. I know can't see from the photo but the plant was over 6ft with the flowers trailling down... Tobacco seem to bush up from what I have seen???

I'm plagued by them and there isn't much they really won't eat. If you have a warren near the site i doubt you can do much about it. Spritzhenry suggestion is good.. It seems as a general rule they don't like waxy leaves...

Jacque the gloves I swear by are actually builders gloves, and called SHOWA. There are immitations out there but these are the best and surprisingly durable. They are a cotton glove with the palm and finger tips dipped in flexible rubber. They even do a thermal version too!

Oh what a friendly lot you are - thanks for the coments and I look forward to sharing gardnening exploits.. just a soon as the sun comes out :-)