So, these rather stunning Castle promo pics emerged last week. And what is the appropriate response to pretty, pretty pictures like these? Oh yes. PHOTOSHOP.

( 26 icons, 1 wallpaper, 2 sigs and 2 iPhone wallpapers under the cut )

As always, feel free to snurch! Comments/credit always much appreciated :)

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/may/18/rhubarb-secret-to-growing-own

What's the secret to robust rhubarb stalks?

Do you have any suggestions how I can make my rhubarb plant more robust? It's a bit floppy and spindly.
Rhubarb is often sold as the sort of plant you can neglect, but if you want those plump, fat stalks, you need to give it a little more love. Spindly stalks are a sign of too little food, and often also indicate too little moisture (particularly if your rhubarb is competing with other deep-rooted plants such as a tree). The quickest solution is to mulch in autumn with a thick layer of well-rotted compost or good quality multi-purpose compost. Better still would be a mulch of well-rotted horse manure, followed by another layer in spring. This will provide a source of new food, as well as locking moisture in around the roots. If your stems still aren't plump next spring, then leave them alone for another year to bulk up and I promise the year after you will be overwhelmed with fat rhubarb stalks.

• Got a question for Alys? Email askalys@guardian.co.uk

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/may/18/alys-fowler-annuals-august-wedding

My present to the couple is to grow the flowers – simple, whimsical bouquets of summer annuals

In August, one of my dearest friends will wed his childhood sweetheart. It's a wedding in a field with a tent or two, and I bet someone will have made cider. My present to the couple is to grow the flowers. Simple, whimsical bouquets of summer annuals, probably in jam jars, because it is that kind of wedding.

I've chosen a mixture of reliable annuals that I sowed this spring. The colour theme is loose: white, pink, dusky red and lime green, with a little burnt orange for good measure.

The annuals are all reliable cut-flower types that I bought from Higgledy Garden, which offers a reasonable collection for less than £20, including all the likely lads such as gypsophila, scabious, Calendula 'Art Shades', Ammi majus (posh cow parsley), cornflowers, Nigella 'Persian Jewels' (more showy than the ordinary love-in-a-mist), bells of Ireland and Cosmos 'Sensation' (a mix of white and shades of pink). I've supplemented these with sweet peas sown in February, so hopefully they will perform well into August.

If you want a larger display, then sunflowers, dahlias, amaranthus, rudbeckias and tithonia in various shades of yellow, burnt umbers and oranges are worth looking into. I  sowed a batch at the end of April and again in May. As long as I keep on top of picking, I reckon I should have enough for the big day.

If you need flowers for June, you're best off with an autumn sowing for the hardier stuff such as love-in-a-mist, cornflowers and larkspur, then sow the rest as soon as March will let you (cover with fleece if necessary) or sow in trays indoors. As a backup, I have sown some ornamental annual grasses to ensure I have something to show whatever the weather throws at me.

Bells of Ireland were sown indoors because they need heat (chuck the seed in the fridge for a week before germinating for a much better show). The rest have been sown direct in lines. I am not usually one for lines when it comes to cut flowers – for most scenarios, mixing them with veg or other flowers works well and ensures the garden doesn't look over picked. But there are so many plants, and lines allow ease of picking and proper spacing. Annuals can be crowded, but if you want long stems for cutting, give each plant at least 15cm between it and its neighbour.

To ensure flowers for August, I need to keep on top of deadheading. All these annuals will re-bloom, but only if regularly picked and deadheaded. Let them get even a whiff of setting seed, and they will stop flowering.

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http://blogs.channel4.com/gurublog/gripping-the-rehn/2411

http://blogs.channel4.com/gurublog/?p=2411

Just back from a most remarkable exchange with the European Commission Vice President Olli Rehn. Responsible for economic affairs and the euro, his head seems to be in a vice right now - he simply refuses to answer several questions on the grounds he does not want the outcome I am asking him about.

Our first exchange is about whether there is any room for renegotiation of the austerity dependent bailout of the Greek economy – while avoiding a categorical “No” it is clear Mr Rehn believes the only way for Greece to stay in the euro is to stick to the reform plan agreed. He keeps insisting that this was a “compact” between the whole of the rest of Europe and the Greek people and it must be stuck to. “We expect both sides to respect the undertaking and commitment,”  he says. “We want Greece to stay in the euro through reforms that will enable Greece to stay within the euro.”

But when I ask him whether it is even possible for Greece to be forced out he again refuses to answer. That is probably because he knows the threats from Angela Merkel about showing Greece the door are empty – without a mechanism to do that.  On the news that his colleague, the EU trade commissioner, has admitted emergency contingency planning has begun for a Greek exit, again Mr Rehn refuses to discuss it – and even tries to suggest there is no planning going on – “We are not preparing for any Greek exit,” he claims, but when challenged on why not, says:  “I’m not commenting on any scenario planning or anything like that.” Hmmmm.

Mr Rehn says it is easy for Mr Cameron to ”dramatise” with talk of make up or break up in Europe, and he rules out Britain’s preferred solution of eurobonds as a way of solving the current crisis with a carefully dismissive: “I appreciate friendly policy advice from the UK prime minister…. eurobonds are possibly a medium to long-term solution.”

But perhaps the most revealing answer from Mr Rehn is at the end of our exchange when asked if it was his belief that Greece would stay in the euro. He would only say it was his goal and workplan. Belief is some way away from that, it seems.

Follow @krishgm on Twitter.

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http://littlefireface.blogspot.com/2012/05/another-market-day.html

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• Wed, 20:08: *The Secret Rivals* Melodically shouty duets between the small keyboard lady & the lanky guitar man. Endearingly cheerful, rather Bis-esque.
• Wed, 20:16: *The Cellar Family* The rumbling bass, off-kilter guitar & unsettling singing felt like mere backing to awesomely complex, shifting drumming
• Wed, 20:40: *Deer Chicago* Warm blanket of guitar, plangent vocals, solid drums, sudden xylophone! Could be great with some hooks, simply pleasant as is
• Wed, 21:50: *Tiger Mendoza* Drum machine, bass samples, guitar & rotating vocalists. Basic, but something about them punches through my filters into joy
• Wed, 22:21: *Dallas Don't* Evocative lyrics melodically shouted over classic grunge guitars. Bleak but energetic, rather Pixies-y, very much my thing.
• Wed, 22:29: *Half Decent* Pretty dope beats (dubstep Rhianna FTW!) under adequate rapping. The relentless optimism alternates between winning & tiresome
• Wed, 22:40: So Oxford's Planet Hollywood has become a club with a roadworks theme? Did aliens scan the city & decide that must be our favourite thing?
• Wed, 23:43: I will round off the evening's reviews with a selection of unfair snap judgements of bands that I only saw for a few minutes.
• Wed, 23:45: *Tamara Parson-Baker* Promising murder ballads, but I wasn't in the mood. *Kill Murray* Boring indie rock. *Manacles of Acid* Generic house.
• Wed, 23:56: Here ends my Punt, the annual venue-crawl of Oxford's best unsigned bands. It was great, & thanks to my companions @cleanskies & @timscience

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• Sat, 14:15: Customer: "I'm a sort of volunteer myself. I'm on several committees, so I have to listen to a lot of rambling..." I resist saying "Me too."

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http://littlefireface.blogspot.com/2012/05/new-capture-round.html

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http://blog.rhiannonlassiter.com/2012/05/12/book-buying-binge/

http://blog.rhiannonlassiter.com/?p=591

I’ve been on a book buying binge. I blame Amazon recommendations – which were actually spot on for a change instead of suggesting books based on presents I bought for other people. I came back from Wales to a heap of oblongs all for me:

• Wither by Lauren DeStafano (I’ve already greedied this one up, first of a trilogy in which women die at 20 and boys at 25)
• Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough (Tamsin should be a powerful witch but appears to have no magic at all)
• Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George (re-imagining of the 12 Dancing Princesses)
• Brideshead Revisted by Evelyn Waugh (I’ve never read Brideshead, shocking – I know)

But that’s not all of it. More oblongs are eagerly expected including:

• Wired by Robin Wasserman
• Crashed by Robin Wasserman (both are sequels to Skinned, which is awesome)
• Trickster’s Choice by Tamora Pierce
• Trickster’s Queen by Tamora Pierce (more in the Tortall universe in which I already have 3 other series about Alanna, Daine and Keladry respectively)

It’s not as though I’ve finished my “to read” pile which is actually more of a “to read” shelf nowadays. I think I’m going to have to have another clear out, always painful, to fit the new stuff in. And now I’m going to have to get the sequels to Wither as well. I am being sucked into a vortex of books.

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So, I got my squeeing out of my system (a bit) and turned to photoshop... 42 icons, 2 sig/avi sets, and a wallpaper from the Castle season finale under the cut.

( And when the sun shines out it will shine out the clearer )

Feel free to snurch, comment and credit would be lovely :)

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• Sat, 10:33: “@colsonwhitehead rt if you've finally perfected your human guise & can walk among them undetected”

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/may/11/ask-alys-q-a-moss

Is moss on container plants useful as a 'living mulch'?

I have a small container garden, and have noticed that the more poorly-draining established containers have a tendency to grow moss on the surface of the compost. The plants in them are well established, and do not seem to be affected. Is the moss useful as a "living mulch", or does it restrict growth?
As you've seen, moss tends to grow on poorly drained, compacted or poor soils. The surface has to remain damp and shady for the moss to survive. But your plants are not unhappy, so there is little to worry about. The moss acts exactly as you've suggested, as a kind of living mulch, cooling the surface of the soil: in winter it will help to insulate against frosts.

Moss won't rob the plants of moisture (it just won't survive in dry conditions) or food. If, however, you were growing seedlings or small alpines, moss, liverworts and algae can be a problem because the delicate new growth of small plants can get swamped. The quickest way to get rid of moss is simply to pull it up and top-dress with grit. This improves drainage, making the surface less appealing for the moss or algae to grow.

• Got a question for Alys? Email askalys@guardian.co.uk

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/may/11/alys-fowler-mint

I have a mint for every need: salads, teas, baths – and simply to jump upon

I have a mint habit: I have collected far too many and yet I long for just one more. They run and creep across most corners of my garden, and there's a mint for each need: salads, teas, baths and simply to jump upon.

I have a patch of pennyroyal, Mentha pulegium, which creeps between the cracks of my brick path. Pennyroyal is suitable ground cover for partial shade and there is a childish joy to trampling over it on the way to the compost, its sharp scent following my footsteps. The lilac flowers hum with bees and butterflies and, despite the plant's spreading nature, it has yet to become a problem. If or when it does, I shall pull ruthlessly. It is very hard to kill a mint.

Nearly all mints love damp, moist soils, but not necessarily rich ones, and prefer sun to shade, though they will not complain bitterly if given the latter. The old trick is to grow them in a large pot or bucket with its base shorn off to stop them taking over. The more invasive mints – M. x smithiana (red mint), M. suaveolens (apple mint), M. x villosa f. alopecuroides (bowles' mint) and M. longifolia (horse mint) – will rampage, so use a barrier to keep their shallow-growing roots in check. Still, they are not hard to weed out. I have a couple of stands of red mint that I have eaten into submission: paired with flat-leaf parsley, it is one of the best-flavoured mints for salads such as tabbouleh. Spearmints (M. spicata), including 'Tashkent' and 'Moroccan', are good for salads, sauces and flavouring new potatoes. I grow M. x piperita f. citrata, the eau de cologne mint, but the flavour is too strong and soapy for anything culinary; added to a bath, however, it is utterly enlivening.

For teas you really cannot better M. x piperita 'Black Peppermint'. It dries exceptionally well, and one plant in an old olive tin keeps us in mint tea all year round. Harvest mint before it flowers in late June/July and dry it for tea. A drink of water and plants quickly regrow.

Any mint in a pot needs to be turfed out once a year, in early spring or after flowering. Be ruthless: the roots spiral around the edge of the pot with little growing in the middle. Discard the centre and plant half of the roots back in the pot, add a new layer of compost, give them a long soak and they'll quickly recover.

I buy my mints from Jekka McVicar. Every time I come across her stalls at a plant fair, I return with another mint: a different scent, a curl to the leaf, a variegation or just the hope of an even better cup of tea.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/apr/27/ask-alys-soil-flower-planter

Should I replace all the soil in an old planter full of brick dust and dead ivy?

My new ground-floor flat has a flower planter in a brick bed out the back. A couple of flowers are struggling out, but the soil is mixed with brick dust, dead ivy, fag butts, dead snails and sweet wrappers. I want a proper flower bed in this planter. Should I replace all the soil first?
The cigarette butts and sweet wrappers need to come out, but the dead snails are an excellent source of calcium, so leave them in. Stamp on them to break them down first: coupled with the brick dust, they'll help to make excellent drainage (brick fines is added to some compost mixes for exactly that same reason).

Given a little water, the ivy may even spring back into life. Chuck some new compost on top and it will either miraculously spring back into action or become compost itself. Buy the best peat-free potting compost you can afford. And mix in some well-rotted farmyard manure, too, to give the soil more body. I'd mix it all together and then save a little of the new stuff to top-dress the planter. Mulch with something decorative, such as bark or pebbles, because this will help conserve moisture.

• Got a question for Alys? Email askalys@guardian.co.uk

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Hello *waves* I'm over here now - feel free to stop by anytime: http://tobetternessandbeyond.wordpress.com/

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So, I've actually managed to fill up my Dropbox, which is annoying. I've got a couple of zip files of archived material which could easily be moved out but I'm trying to figure out where to put them! USB sticks tend to get lost and are a pain to use from multiple locations anyway so I'd prefer cloud storage. Does anyone have any recommendations for large long term file storage?

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