Joao Winckler

Squirrels are relentless with walnuts, honestly. With just the one nut it might be worth trying a mesh bag over it while it's still on the tree, not foolproof but it at least makes it harder for them to grab and run. Jays in my experience tend to go for things once they've dropped rather than stripping them off the branch, so keeping it bagged until it's ready to pick might help.

For me the wildlife angle settled it fairly quickly - a native mix of hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel and field maple and the birds are going absolutely mad for it by year three. The one thing I'd think hard about upfront is eventual height and how much cutting you actually want to be doing each year, because that shapes most of the other decisions.

The thornless variety point is a good one. I've seen wild thornless specimens around here and they're a totally different plant to deal with. Still takes a bit longer to establish than black locust but worth it if you can find good stock.

Don't bother fermenting tomatillo seeds, I never have and they germinate fine. The fermentation thing is more for tomatoes where it helps break down the gel coating. Just wash and dry them and you should be good.

That soil looks pretty good actually. Main thing I'd watch is nitrogen drawdown if it's not fully broken down yet, the decomposition process can still tie up nitrogen and stress young seedlings. Mixing in some compost or worm castings should sort it out. Pawpaws especially can be touchy in the early stages.

Yeah, had the same with my plums a few years back, same brown trails inside the fruit. Sticky traps hung in the tree when it was in flower caught some of the adults before they could lay. Never eliminated it completely but it was noticeably better. Also read that loosening the soil underneath in autumn exposes the pupae to birds and frost, did that too and I think it helped. Worth a go before reaching for anything stronger.

Cornwall 9a is honestly a great base to work from. Given the drought, worth leaning toward things that handle a bit of stress once established, courgettes, squash, and most legumes tend to cope. Lettuce will just bolt the second it gets warm and dry so maybe save that for autumn.

The slug thing is real for UK raised beds. Thick mulch in a wet summer is basically an invitation. I've been compromising with straw mulch on the beds themselves and leaving the paths bare so there's less permanent cover nearby. Doesn't eliminate them but at least the population isn't living directly underneath where the veg is.

Yeah blight in a wet year is brutal, nothing you can really do once it's in. The keeping tomatoes dry approach Phil mentioned is the main thing that's actually made a difference for me too. Growing them under some kind of cover changed everything. Bruce, losing squash and beans to the flooding sounds less like blight and more like the roots just suffocating in waterlogged soil, different problem same rubbish result.

Good to hear it actually worked out. The smell thing puts people off but you're right, a proper ferment smells more like cheese than rot. Did you end up diluting it much before applying, or using it fairly concentrated?