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of the chilli.This year a new chilli variety caught my eye. It's called 'Bhut Jolokia Fiery Furnace', and claims to be the world's hottest chilli.The heat of chillies is measured on the Scoville scale, and this variety comes in at an impressive 1,000,000

; for the first time I've been able to run an extension to my greenhouse to power an electric propagator. When temperatures all around have fallen, the propagator maintains a warming 20Ë?C, perfect for germinating most seeds.I always grow an assortment of chillies

trumpets bursting open at tip of yellow courgettes are pure beauty – and yes, they are good enough to eat (deep fried in a tempura batter sounds appetising).Flowers adorn climbing beans, squash, tomatoes, aubergines, chillies, garlic chives and many more

they simply become bird food!Crops are planted in beds about 1m wide with a narrow paved path between each for easy access. I've just finished digging the beds, adding plenty of homemade compost deep down in the process, and now I'm planning what to grow

worthwhile. A short row of raspberries just 1.2m long has produced several pickings, used to add tasty home-grown vitamins to my morning bowl of cereal. Blackberries are now taking over, and I'd thoroughly recommend thornless varieties to give regular

for sowing next year's coriander crop. Allow the seeds to ripen fully on the plant before harvesting.In the greenhouse I save seed from chillies, tomatoes and sweet peppers. The rule of thumb here is not to save seed from F1 hybrid varieties, as their progeny

crops are loving it.Despite opening-up every vent in the greenhouse early, jamming the double doors wide open and damping down the floor with a hose, the temperature inside had already 31°C by 10am.At this time of year we need to be particularly

this winter. Outside temperatures dropped to around -4&#176C a couple of nights ago...chilly for me, but what about my oleander? If it gets through I'll be really chuffed, but if not another trip to the garden centre next spring will reveal other delights

Conifer Growers are trying to persuade us all that there's a conifer for every garden, and we should all be growing more. National Conifer Week started last Saturday 3 October and runs through to Sunday 11 October, with a message to everyone that conifers

and cooking crops. Do let us know in the comments section of this blog if there are any harvesting tips you'd like us to cover.Finally, do join me and a host of other experts on the ‘Grow Your Own’ Garden at BBC Gardeners' World Live (15-19 June 2011) for more