Well, the strangest thing happened: our lettuce seedlings turned over and died. One day they were there, lots of bright green shoots, the next weekend — perhaps four or five days later — nothing. I couldn't even see any dead shoots.

Thinking I must have imagined the trench full of seedlings, I dug up the compost a little and found webs of wasted roots, proving that they were there once. The soil was damp enough, too, so they hadn't died of thirst.

The expert who is advising us, Sarah Wain, thinks I might have oversown and overwatered them and perhaps even put them to bed wet, which it turns out, like children, isn't a good idea. Worse, I dug the soil over and re-sowed it and that too was a mistake; she thinks it might have “fungal spores” (how I love this earthy language) and we should start again from scratch.

Better news, though, on the exotic plants front. Having failed first time round to germinate nearly all of the aubergine and chilli seeds, I stuck a few more in the same soil once the weather warmed up and they are coming up nicely. It seems a shame, with two to a pot, that I have to chuck the weaker one, and for now I am leaving them both; is that a big mistake? I feel I cannot bear to kill any.

What I also hadn't realised was that the aubergines are going to need to be inside for practically the whole summer, which is going to make for an interesting windowsill.

Otherwise our lives have been dominated by potatoes, lots and lots of them: Nicola and Maris Peer and some we call Patrick's, because they are an old variety cultivated by Nicola's father, Patrick. Yes, I have a gardening friend called Nicola as well as a potato — confusing, I know, when people not only take the same names as potatoes but then breed potatoes without names as well, but it's too late to do anything about it; this is now a column with Nicolas both in the ground and above it, as well as a potato which is Nicola's, but nameless. Let's hope it doesn't turn out to be a Nicola.

I owe my mother an apology — she suggested sowing parsley on a new moon, not a full one, which means you missed a chance to try it on Tuesday. I didn't, though, and I'll let you know what happens. In the meantime, can anyone give me any tips on how to stop broad beans flopping over in the wind? Thanks!

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