Thanks Dad! :)

I am truely a daddy´s girl. My father and I are very alike and have similar tastes and hobbies, one of which is gardening. I LOVE gardening. I love the concept of free food and having grown it yourself knowing what has gone into it and how much time and care you give to achieve it :)

I learnt everything I know about gardening from my dad. My dad has a nice big garden and a massive greenhouse. When he was away with work it was up to me to maintain and feed and water the plants; tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, chillies, potatoes...you can think of it...we had it :) which of course my dad still does now, however with me being in Spain the job of plant caretaker has fallen to my brother. I have my own little veg patch to take of now :) and I grew each one from seed, lovingly. So, currently I have some runner beans, tomatoes, peppers and chillies, as well herbs; mint, basil, parsley and rosemary.

I called my dad today, as I always do on a Sunday, and told him my runner beans weren´t looking to healthy. So he told me to check if they had white fly...which I found out they did (small white flies on the underside of the leaves that fly off when you flick the leaf). I had naturally assumed due the ridiculous amount of rain we had had lately that the runner beans just didn´t appreciate it. So dad gave me a nice cheap trick to get rid of them, as apparently they will kill the plant and drain it of life. "Next time you wash up.." he said, "Fill a spray bottle with the soapy water and spray the underside of the leaves with throughily." he told me it will not only kill the white fly but hopefully prevent more of them. So as soon as I got off the phone with him I filled a bottle with weak soapy water and sprayed away. Fingers crossed!!!

He also told me to spray my tomato plants, as they are more than likely attacked as well. "You can tell if they are as the new leaves will curl right under" he said, and after checking my plants, one was certainly covered! (see photos!) So all my tomatoes, beans and peppers have been soapy sprayed.....hes hoping the white flies find a new home soon!!!

One happy gardening day :) x