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Only a couple of weeks ago I was waxing lyrical about my very much loved greenhouse. There are still a few peppers and tomatoes hanging on in there, but as light levels get lower and days get frighteningly shorter, I finally got around to starting

I'm the proud owner of two whopping great carnivorous plants. One was a present to my son from his granddad, the other is a rescue plant (much like our rescue cat!).Right now my greenhouse is looking decidedly miserable. My pepper and tomato plants

and are so welcome in these cold, long winter months.Tomatoes have been a total waste of time for the past couple of years due to blight so I'm not bothering any more - I'll grow a couple of plants at home instead!I still haven't mastered the art

that hitting is allowed if it means squashing a horsefly before it attacks!Apparently eating garlic helps to fend them off, and, interestingly my son is rarely affected. But he doesn't eat any more garlic than the rest of the family. Last week we ate tomato

will admit to sneaking the odd strawberry when I'm picking.Anna, my assistant at work and fellow allotment holder, is a Grazer. As soon as a tomato turns even vaguely red she starts giving it a sly squeeze to see if it's ripe. She munched her way through her

, but my thoughts are turning to the Mediterranean, and summer holidays. I like to imagine what I'll be growing and eating in the summer: masses of zingy tomatoes, sweet and crisp peppers, juicy cucumbers and buttery salad leaves. Oh, and warm ratatouille

individual bulbs of garlic into pots, then transplanting them later on.Everything else is starting to move too, the tomato, pepper and aubergine seedlings are responding well to the increased light levels. I planted a few potatoes earlier but had to protect

these are cropping), tomatoes (especially the cherry types which are pop-in-the mouth fodder and perfect for picnics and lunch boxes). The result? They ate even more of their favourite fruits and vegetables.If your children aren't keen to eat fruit and veg, start

to cause a lot of unnecessary worry – and unnecessary spraying. It can be alarming when a plant doesn’t appear as you expect it to (think of those curious, rather unpleasant looking grey-brown patchy folds on the flower end of many beefsteak tomatoes

by brown rot. They were still delicious, though. The first plums were all harvested yesterday as they too were targeted by wasps.There has been a steady flow of blackbirds into my greenhouse - presumably after the tomatoes. I really adore blackbirds