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was recommended to me by a friend who thought it was great for growing outdoors. It's an F1 variety so the seed is expensive but if the flavour is as good as I'm told then it will be worth it!

as losing a few to mice last year, the crop was also a complete washout as the hot spring dried them out and then they were attacked by blackfly."That's it," I said. "Never again!" But Vic's beans looked so good, even a handful of them would be worth growing

I've been spring cleaning. The greenhouse, of course, not the house. Somehow the lure of the compost and seed trays was much greater than that of the vacuum cleaner and duster.Our heavy clay soil has been sodden and unworkable, so the greenhouse

The first of the snowdrops are up, my daffodils are romping away - I can almost believe that spring will actually arrive. But it's the seed potatoes that are really firing me up.I can't resist buying seed potatoes, and have bought three batches

have been a real triumph. It hasn't been an easy growing year, with very hot, dry spells followed by regular downpours, but the pelargoniums have been in flower since spring and are still going strong.One amazingly vigorous variety, 'Calliope Dark Red

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

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

as growing plants. Last year I planted some seedling rhubarb plants from an organic veg plant supplier, but seedlings were only available of the popular 'Victoria'.We expect a lot from our rhubarb, so it's important to dig plenty of rich organic compost

and expertise it takes to get fruit trees ready and trained to this level.Once new trees are bought and planted in newly enriched soil, you can look forward to the first crop in a few years time. If you’re intending to buy new fruit trees this spring, I