Joao Winckler

Ac Baker — I'm around 30°N and even here the corn needs a decent run of warm nights to really get going. Badgers would be a nightmare for sweetcorn, that's a tough one. Beans and squash on their own still work well as a duo if the corn isn't viable where you are.

Worth trying — amaryllis from seed takes a few years to bloom but it's satisfying when they finally do. The waxed bulb rescue is impressive, those things are basically tortured and still come back. I've had luck with seeds from hippeastrum just sowing them fresh in a small pot and keeping them warm, they germinate pretty reliably.

Community plots are such a good way to get people growing who wouldn't otherwise have space. The volunteer tomatoes spreading through chicken compost is a nice touch — nature doing the work for you.

Air layering is worth a go if you can still get to a low branch. Bend it down, wound the bark a bit, wrap with damp moss and plastic. By autumn it should have rooted enough to cut free. Works well on pears in my experience, better success rate than softwood cuttings mid-season.

Last week, showed a neighbour around. She kept asking what everything was and I realised how much I take for granted knowing what's growing where. The best bit was when she tasted a gooseberry straight off the bush — that face of surprise is always worth it.

Those raised beds look great. The difference between the hügelkultur bed and the regular one is pretty striking, especially for something that started as a practical fix for the arthritis. Curious how the moisture retention holds up through summer compared to the standard beds.

Yeardly's point about old stumps being great planting spots makes sense. All that decaying root mass underneath is basically a slow-release fertiliser. I've seen the same thing with fruit trees planted where old ones came down, they always seem to establish faster than trees going into bare ground.

The mycorrhizae point is worth taking seriously. Rotation breaks disease cycles but it also disrupts the fungal networks that build up around specific plants over time. In a polyculture with good soil biology you probably get enough natural suppression that strict rotation matters less. But in a polytunnel or any enclosed space I'd still rotate, the conditions are just too controlled for the soil food web to compensate on its own.

The buried chest freezer idea works well as a temporary solution. Ventilation is the main thing to sort — a couple of PVC pipes through the lid, one near each end, lets air circulate and stops moisture building up inside. Some people add a small mesh screen over the pipe openings to keep rodents out. The insulation is already built in which is the main advantage over a trash can.

Oil traps work well for me too. I use small containers sunk into the soil near seedlings with a bit of vegetable oil, check them every morning. The key is getting them before they establish — once you have millions it's a lot harder to knock back.