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some lunch (one of the benefits of working from home!) it was great to see the peppers still going strong.Peppers taste fantastic, they're good for you, easy to grow and they look attractive, especially when laden with fruit. I've grown a selection

have been a real triumph. It hasn't been an easy growing year, with very hot, dry spells followed by regular downpours, but the pelargoniums have been in flower since spring and are still going strong.One amazingly vigorous variety, 'Calliope Dark Red

to be restrained - it's very easy to overindulge.This year I'm writing a list of the types of vegetable I want to grow, and allowing myself a maximum of two varieties of each crop. The problem is, it's hard to keep to this self-imposed rule. I'm always tempted

thing is that, as one of the story-tellers, I too am gripped. Over the remainder of the term I've a whole host of great easy-to-grow crops for them to plant, which are sure not to fail. It's great and the kids are fantastic. When I see their fascinated

-rotted manure, the bags are providing just what the root crops need.The parsnips are galloping away and I can almost taste them roasted in a little olive oil. The planters are more like large bags than beds, which means they are easy to move around and can

with the easy crops I've mentioned above, then expand their horizons with broccoli, carrots, sweet peppers, peas, sweet corn, beans and courgettes. So you're giving them several things all in one go: the freshest, tastiest food, veg-growing know-how, fun

accessible source of pollen for bees and hoverflies. If left into into winter, the papery brown seed heads look beautiful when covered in dense frost.Apart from the addition of extra grit to my heavy soil, keeping my alliums has been easy. Despite frequent

It can be much trickier changing the soil in a greenhouse trench than in a garden border. I’m lucky to have trenches with brick bases, but my heart goes out to anyone with borders glazed to the base. It's so easy to break panes when excavating soil

down the cells, making the apples easy to juice, and the mass of skin left over can be composted.The resulting golden liquid is gorgeous. My plans to freeze some juice, though, have come to nothing, as we’ve drunk it all so far. However, there are still

At this time of year it’s all too easy to stay indoors and become a couch potato. When I do venture into the garden, my fingers ache with the cold and the ground is so slippery I can barely stay upright. I can’t even warm up by working the soil