I've been worrying about the frogs in the pond as there hasn't been any frogspawn this year. In fact, I'd made up my mind that they'd packed their little froggy bags and hopped it.
Today we started to drain the pond and you can guess what we found! Five frogs and one was a monster frog. He waddled out from under a stone, clutching a lady frog.
A couple of hours later - there's a clump of spawn!!
I won't do any more to the pond area until the tadpoles have been and gone - then I'll create a small pond, maybe with a baby bath, as part of the makeover.
Really happy to have found them today. 

I think Sarah Raven seeds are rather pricey, but I was given a gift voucher for my birthday last year and finally got round to getting my order in last week. The seeds arrived yesterday, but there was a packet missing. I emailed them late last night, and I had a response around 2pm today. They apologised and have immediately arranged to send the missing seeds.

So (assuming that the missing seeds do come) they get a thumbs up on the customer service front at least! Some of the bigger companies could learn from their example...

Can you guess the number of tomatoes on a single truss of tomatoes that has clamed the world record?

Guess before you look at the answer!! 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-be...s-60737800

Tell us how many plants you're growing and how many you pick. 
Cucumbers, courgettes, squash, melons and so on - all are welcome!


Last year's thread at  https://gardenandgossip.org/showthread.p...529#pid529

Its that time again, when we dream of growing the longest, curliest, funniest Tromba in all of G&G Land.
Show us yours and make us laugh.

It'll soon be time for the annual tromboncino competition again, where we giggle at Veggie talking about girth with a straight face lol

Last time I grew trombos, it was Tromboncino D'Albenga and I think I still have seeds somewhere. It was alright, good fruits, but it was a disaster year for trombos.

I've saved seeds from the first time I grew trombos, and they didn't produce well at all.

The original variety I grew was amazing and I loved it! Very light lime green fruits to begin with, then matte pale yellow with the flesh turning pink as it reaches maturity. Sweet flavour.

So, my question to you is - I don't think Tromboncino D'Albenga is my favourite tromba, but I don't know what my favourite is called.

Do you know of any established varieties other than D'Albenga?
What are your experiences please?

Found these in the garden today....amazing how perfect they looked when so tiny.

   

I always like to try and grow something new for the kitchen each year, so this year it's orache (arroches in French) with a selection of half a dozen or so varieties. 
I'll let you know how I get on, but meanwhile what's new to you this year?

I'm still trying to decide whether to buy a Dehydrator and if I do, how much to spend on one.
Someone I know from the freebie site posted a photo of a cupboard she wanted to give away (without the contents). Every shelf was full of jars of dried foods, fruits veg, even apple peelings.  I asked her what dehydrator she had  -  she has 3!!! A Vonhaus/Vonshef, a Jack summat and an Excalibur that she bought with Gift Vouchers.  She suggested the Von haus because its not too big or expensive to start with until I know whether I really want one.

Looking around I can get a Vonshef 5 tier  for £52 https://www.amazon.co.uk/VonShef-Tier-Fo...B078B42MXZ
A second hand 4 tier Excalibur for £100 but I'd have to collect it from about 20 miles away. (a gallon of petrol trip).
There's a Lakeland one with a 3 year no quibble money back if you don't like it guarantee £60
A plethora of dehydrators, both new and display models at https://www.ukjuicers.com/dehydrators

The more I look, the more confused I become.
What should I look for? What do you like/dislike about the ones you have, please? Metal or plastic trays for a start.

My last thought (almost) before I went to sleep last night was "Must cut my toenails tomorrow". 
I dreamt that I'd been asked for a list of names with "toe" or the sound of "toe" on them. Something like the Naming of Storms but for Toes.
For example. Antony, Toby, Ianto................

Any you can add?