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the garden. It's a bit 'pot luck', but then that's the fun of gardening. If I really wanted to maximise my returns I could collect seed by hand, picking off the pods at the moment they split, but before they've dropped their cargo. Kept on a sheet

pickings over the next month or so. If my eyes aren't deceiving me the ripe ones have gone. Is that blackberry juice dribbling down the beak of that bird up there?What I need is some netting ... a barrier to keep them away. I've covered fruit with netting

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

feeding frenzy day and night, unhindered by daytime sunshine, if you can remember what that looks like.But help is at hand. When I pop out to pick my salads each evening I usually disturb a frog or two among the leaves, finding their supper just as I

wasted.Later in October I'll be able to start picking other varieties (I've about 10 in all), including Cox, that have also cropped really well this year. These later ripening varieties do store much better, so I set them out in wooden, stacking trays