After my unsuccess with comfrey seeds I bought a comfrey plant from my local organic shop Absolutely Organics. Its on North Bch Rd, Gwelup next to the Caltex on the cnr of Karrinyup Rd. I’m not sure if they always have comfrey, but if its near you, ring them on 92427711. if you do go there, check when they’re open coz they’re closed most arvos. At first i had probs with my comfrey plant cos it wasn’t getting enough sun, but now it does and it’s growing nicely. In the past it put up shoots from runners. But since it moved to its new sunny spot it hasn’t yet. the first time it does my friends with chooks (chooks love comfrey) are getting a plant.

I have a few problems with some Diggers seeds, but I’m still a member coz i like their catalogue and the free seeds, some of which grow well, others which don’t. I have great success with their tomatoes – i love their tommy toes. And I planted three other types of free tomatoes this year, so I’m giving away seedlings to everyone i meet :)

I didn’t know what goji was, so I can’t help you with that.

With tomatoes I’ve always known them to have a few bugs when they’re home grown, sometimes you can just cut out the eaten bit and the rest will be fine. I’ve been having a few troubles with catepillars (which i guess are grubs) and I’ve just put Dipel on my plants and hopefully that will get rid of them. Dipel is the brand name of Bt, a bacteria naturally found in soil which kills catepillars and nothing else. It breaks down in sunshine within a day and is used in organic farming. I wrote about it here. Its expensive (and made by Yates/Monsanto) and sometimes you have to reapply it again in a couple of days to get all the catepillars. The packet has warnings saying wash hands after use, etc, but it also says it doesn’t harm fish, birds, warm blooded animals, so its a good option. Derris Dust (powdered root of Derris eliptica plant) kills catepillars, but it also kills earthworms, so don’t use that.

I never have much luck with carrots, I think i don’t fertilise them enough, they’re always so small.

I don’t know what to do about grasshoppers, I’ve never had that problem. I planted my vegies kind of late and yesterday I ate my first bean. It wasn’t very big, but I was impatient, and it was tasty – i’m looking forward to the rest.

I hope all these bugs don’t put you off. There are natural ways to deal with them. Marigolds planted in amoungst your vegies are meant to keep away many bugs. And soak wormwood leaves in water and spray on leafy vegies.

I was confused when I read on the comfrey seed packet to put them in the fridge, so I didn’t. Did you plant them in a pot and then put that in the fridge or did you just put the seeds in the fridge and what did you cover them with?

I’ll try again and put them in the fridge this time. We’ve been having high temperatures too – some of my tomatoes didn’t make it – so I’ll keep them in the shade if they sprout.