In the garden this week: Sweet peas, and garlic

Keeping peas sweet Sweet peas can run out of puff in summer, just when they're meant to be doing their glorious thing. The problem is heat, so if it is warm and dry, water them really deeply at the roots and then mulch thickly. The moment you stop picking them, of course, they start to form seed pods and think their flowering time is over, so you have every excuse to pick bunch after fragrant bunch the moment they are about to reach their peak. Garlic galore Timing your garlic harvest is tricky: do it too soon, and your garlic is puny; leave it too, late and it all splits apart or succumbs to rot. Dig when the foliage is between half and two-thirds brown, certainly no more. Move the garlic instantly to a cool, dark place to start to clean it off and dry it out. You must try at least some when still "green", because it has a sweeter, milder taste and can even be eaten raw.