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to be picking my first chillis, but do I dare eat them? Perhaps my delicious fragrant Thai prawns are actually fine as they are.

August's plum time in my garden, with 'Victoria' a firm family favourite. Everyone loves them, especially my daughter Danielle, who strips my single fan-trained plum before even the wasps get a taste!This has led me to extend my plum picking season

houseplants, and I'm often surprised where you can pick one up. Of course good garden centres usually have a dedicated area under glass for indoor plants, and M&S sell some nice ones, but how about Tesco's? Just look at what I found there last week (pictured

are full of pictures of me gardening, or sometimes just my hands pruning, sowing, picking and nurturing.My local photographer Tim Sandall has been a faithful friend for many years, joining me to take pictures month in and month out, regardless

to a warm, sunny patio. Colder autumn weather will finish off plants grown outside, but last year I was still picking fruits grown under glass in December.Of course, when it comes to chillies you must decide how much heat you can take. 'Anaheim

you can pick the best as they come into bloom, and check the exact colour of their flowers, too. The other annoying thing I find when buying seeds is that often you can only find packets of mixed colours not single colours. If it's a single colour I

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

to dig up half my flower garden to accommodate them all!My personal nominations for the list include:1. Courgette 'Tromboncino'2. Dwarf French Bean 'Maxi'3. Mangetout 'Oregon Sugar Pod'4. Sweetcorn 'Rising Sun'5. Watercress 'Aqua'And if I had to pick just

. Again, they don't really have any flavour I could detect, but are fun to add to salads.And don't forget your weeds either. Dandelion flowers have a very distinct flavour. They're quite sweet when picked just as they open, and their golden petals go

't go amiss either. Then keep picking off faded flowers to make way for new ones growing up from the base.So far the displays are looking great, but in previous years I have found sparrows start pecking away the leaves. I'm not sure if they're hungry