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Last year I ripped out an old strawberry bed as the plants had gone past their best. As if by magic, I was sent several new strawberry varieties to trial. Of course, my son soon had his eye on the plants and suggested he grow them instead of me

the time to eat my asparagus is getting closer.For best results, you should grow asparagus in a nutrient-rich bed with good drainage. I made a raised bed, packed it with a mixture of soil, well rotted manure plus a little sand  to ensure good drainage

germinated.I've recently installed some raised beds, which should make growing root crops easier. I'm also growing parsnips and carrots in woven polythene planters. Filled with a mixture of some sandy imported soil, a bit of the native soil and a little well

and removing algae from between the panes, using a combination of strong water jets and a slim piece of plastic cut from a margarine tub. Then, having finally cleared the last of the tomatoes from the bed, I removed any lurking traces of grey mould from

The heat has been incredible lately. I feel like my vegetables are cooking in the ground where they're growing. I'm used to the fact that all that soft, tender foliage is like a big advert to passing pests and pathogens, but the intense heat is a

, but my thoughts are turning to the Mediterranean, and summer holidays. I like to imagine what I'll be growing and eating in the summer: masses of zingy tomatoes, sweet and crisp peppers, juicy cucumbers and buttery salad leaves. Oh, and warm ratatouille

pots and flower beds, keep an eye out for slug and snail eggs, plus leatherjackets (the larvae of crane flies, pictured, left), chafer grubs and vine weevil larvae. Removing these pests now will save you time (and your crops) later, and the birds

I was producing a crop of water chestnuts).I'm also intending to start a small asparagus bed. Asparagus is a fascinating vegetable. Until a couple of years ago I heartily disliked it, but now I've fallen for its charms I'm going to attempt to grow

.Luckily many of my vegetable plants are still snugly tucked away in fleece-covered tunnels, and some of the tinier ones in a fine-mesh-covered raised bed. I've always thought these things were far more wind resistant than some claim, now I'm sure

cropping well, and although I never got round to netting the strawberry bed, we’ve been enjoying vast quantities of delicious fruits for weeks. Only now are the yields beginning to fall.We haven’t been the only ones to enjoy the strawberries; the blackbirds