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.But the downside of the cold weather is that my compost heap has stopped decomposing. The pile of fruit and vegetable peelings and garden waste has shown little sign of decay in the last few weeks. The banana skins turn black very quickly, and the local badgers

, they announced that they wanted to enter their fruit and vegetable crops in 'proper' categories. I'm incredibly proud to say that more than one first prize was won, and an even prouder that they wanted to do it in the first place.

concentrate its energy on producing new flowers and fruit. Affected blooms are also more prone to attack from grey mould, which can infect the rest of the plant and its neighbours.

've a recipe for a bumper crop.It's the quality of the fruit that's so exceptional. The strawberries are evenly shaped, fat and well rounded, speckled with seeds and rosy with ripeness.I ate loads as I picked them - I couldn't help it they looked so

gardening. They're also a tough bunch of critics, always ready with a word of advice - whether I need it or not.We all enjoy a good chat about the merits of one fruit or vegetable variety over another. Our latest debate has been about varieties of early

away very merrily too. But king of them all in terms of vigor and size of the yield, is 'Scatalone' - an Italian variety I got from Seeds of Italy. The elongated fruits are positively dripping off the plant, and when it comes to grilling and roasting

's not just about fruit harvests, pumpkins and squashes, but also rust fungi.But here's the problem: rust fungi thrive when there's a lot of surface moisture about, and it hasn't rained for ages. The only moisture on the grass is from the morning dew. So can

the upper regions of the compost food-chain, feeding on the clouds of fruit flies, moth flies and other small insects that devour the endless cascade of banana skins and potato peels. I'm not sure what species they are, but I'll keep an eye out to see what

I adore home-grown courgettes. They lack that slightly bitter taste and spongy texture you can get with supermarket specimens. My first fruits were a bit late this year, as I’d delayed planting because of cold weather. They were well worth the wait

but Jekka. She is our equivalent of Pele or Bono.I went to visit her farm the other day, where we had a fine afternoon investigating all sorts of herbs from the mundane (but essential) to the super-exotic Chilean guavas (Ugni molinae), the fruits of which