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are commendable, if nothing else. There are friends who grow the plants indoors and wonder why they don't fruit (the flowers need pollinating); friends whose plants flower and fruit but the tomatoes rot at the ends (blossom end rot caused by irregular watering

flowering, to ensure they have enough energy to grow the chillies, tomatoes or beans we're growing them for. This is especially pertinent when growing them in containers, as there is only a finite amount of nutrients in the compost. Once this is used up

're usually grown in the UK as annuals, chilli plants (native to South and Central America) are perennial, so overwintering them shouldn't be a problem, if you live somewhere nice and hot. The theory is that if they survive winter, the plants flower and fruit

weeks ago, when I put my first homegrown aubergine of the year on a pizza and ate it in front of the non-grafted plants, which had only just come into flower. I've already harvested two aubergines, and another grafted plant has three fruits growing

.This year I’m growing a couple of different varieties. One is rather straggly, but does crop phenomenally well. Its massive golden flowers are set against a backdrop of pure green leaves. Unfortunately I don’t know the variety name, as the packet is long

, garlic chives, lemon balm, chervil, or even mint.Lastly, don't forget radish. You'll often find them in seed ranges developed for children as they're so quick and easy to grow, although I do doubt that may kids actually enjoy eating them

rightly - and while not unpleasant, they were certainly an acquired taste.Dandelions grow bigger, with longer leaves, in wild areas than they do in lawns, where mowing keeps them flat and close to soil level. Apparently, the French often eat them as a

If you want fast fruit then look no further than strawberries. From rather unpromising cold-stored runners, foliage will develop in days, flowers in weeks, with ripe fruit ready for picking in about two months.Commercially available strawberry

. Seedlings need watering, as do flowering broad beans and garlic.I'm anxious to get tender crops planted outside so that I can set-up an automatic watering system in the greenhouse for my tomatoes and cucumbers. Chillies, sweet peppers and aubergines grow

I recently spent a few days in Barcelona. The orange trees growing there were laden with fruit and looked stunning in the February sunshine. I loved seeing them growing outside in the streets, though admit to having felt a pang of jealousy on behalf