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Hampton Court Palace Flower Show is always a good place to look for new 'grow your own' ideas.  The Growing Tastes Marquee this year was better than ever: my highlights for 2010 were garlic and blueberries.I could smell The Garlic Farm's beautiful

from year to year; it is not an exact science, but it is 15cm or so tall and about 20cm or more wide at the base. The result of that tiny bit of extra effort in autumn is an early crop of gorgeously succulent garlic, with bulbs that have shown little

and slippery that it wasn't possible to push a barrow along the slope. But after just a few days dry weather it is now possible to incorporate some manure into the soil.With the soil drier, I have finally managed to plant the last of my garlic and onion sets

I'm obsessed with garlic. I've had a bumper crop this year - a mixture of autumn- and spring-planted varieties -  and I use vast quantities in just about every meal.Although I've stored a lot of garlic in plaits and loose in trays, to see me through

Every year I grow masses of garlic. It's one of the easiest and most satisfying crops to grow, and my entire family adores it. My son has just lifted the autumn-planted crop. This is mostly my favourite variety, 'Albigensian', with four or five

First it was my garlic - a crop I pride myself on (usually) as we get huge bulbs of super-succulent, tremendously tasty garlic that lasts us well in to the next year, generally until the next year's crop is ready...and keeps our friends smelling

Growing to eat is one of the greatest of gardening pleasures. It sort of fulfills a fundamental need. Even better is growing vegetables with children. Recently I've been volunteering at my children's school, helping to teach youngsters how to grow

Like it or lump it, there isn't that wide a range of vegetables you can enjoy fresh from the garden at this time of year. So how about some oriental veg? Yes, I'm still enjoying parsnips, leeks, onions, garlic and radish. No spuds though, as those

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

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