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then the air was positively dripping. So, I'm amazed at just how little blight I've seen on tomatoes or potatoes.There was some blight on a few of the potato varieties I've been growing this year, but even then the brown patches on the leaves remained as tight

When I was a child pumpkins were alien and exotic. I read about them in the Peanuts cartoon, in which Linus spent long nights in the pumpkin patch at Halloween, waiting in vain for ‘The Great Pumpkin’. It never came.As the American version

.Don't forget to bring your house plants back indoors before the autumn frosts.More summer planting suggestionsPotting up a summer display of scabious and thrift.Creating a summer cutting patch.Growing summer-flowering plants to attract bees.Planting ideas

.Some plants need moving, some need supporting, some need feeding, some need pruning. Many just need sowing.I need to cut the lawn (we don't have a mower so we do this on our hands and knees with shears.) Luckily it's full of dead patches so it shouldn't take

, and keep my fingers crossed. Will I be cutting into sweet, juicy melons later this summer?Just one problem has come to light this week. One of my melon plants is developing the characteristic white patches of powdery mildew on its leaves. If this spreads

them down unthinkingly.  Artichokes are to be savoured layer by layer.Paolo Arrigo, promoter of all things Italian in the UK, told me of a simple way to cook artichokes as they do in Rome:1)   Run eight artichokes under water to clean, then cut

for the frogs, slugs, snails and other frog food. I'll let my borders rot down into themselves.Following Richard's advice I've also ‘created’ a jumbled pile of pots (it looks hideous), I’ve left straggly clematis stems unclipped and there are plenty of patches

nutritious for both other plants and humans.Follow our tips on putting nettles to good use - but be sure to wear gloves at all times when handling them.For a basic soup you'll need about 200g of fresh nettle tips. Add 450g of potatoes, peeled and cubed, a