Growing giants

Growing giant pumpkins is one of the great challenges of the gardening year, so start now for record-breakers by late summer. Buy a ready-grown pumpkin from our garden centre for a head start (choose a show-stopping variety like 'Atlantic Giant' for the largest fruits) and plant into a hole filled with well-rotted manure or into the top of your compost heap for a really rich soil it'll relish. Feed regularly, keep well watered and you should have some real whoppers to show off by Hallowe'en.