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things that don't need regular picking. So this year I'm saying 'no' to courgettes and 'yes' to butternut squashes.I'm planning a couple of beds of onions which always seem to do rather well on my plot, as well as a small bed of shallots. I've had great

hibernation now are mostly green, but the summer form has vague reddish brown patches across its back. It too has a slight smell of mouldy almonds, especially if picked up; these are the bitter-tasting cyanide compounds used by shieldbugs to deter predators

resist picking one up if I see it. They make the perfect adornment to my hat.

little late! Tulips are more expensive but are still cheaper than shop-bought blooms. It's also immensely satsfying to go out and pick your own flowers as the urge takes you. Air Miles? What Air Miles?

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

'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

and sandwiches. But the most spectacular growers have been the courgettes, or are they marrows? I guess it’s been a good 10 days or more since they were last picked, and they’ve loved this warm, wet weather. I groaned out loud when I saw them – well you couldn

the flower spreads back into the young courgette. Although there is little you can do about the weather, it is well worth checking courgettes and marrows daily. As soon as the fruit is formed, I pick off the flower, ideally before the petals get a chance

brilliantly, producing the biggest fruits yet, but as soon as they approached ripeness, the wasps attacked. As a result I picked them a little earlier than I would have liked. We ate many of the peaches while they were still hard, before they too were spoiled

to glide effortlessly along. But if you pick them up they tie themselves in knots. Literally. They curl into a rough ball, looping their curls together into a living clove hitch.Any gardener should always be pleased to find centipedes. Since