There was a little competition to see whether anyone could work out what had caused the mess below. This particular pest is a problem in January, February and March on brassicas, and in the Spring they like to attack pea plants as well.

… and the answer was pigeons. More specifically one very cheeky wood pigeon that is now so fat it can hardly fly, the greedy B. Here’s some more of his handiwork.

So, one birdy seems to have made short work of some of the sprouting broccoli and the last sprout top. I was amazed he had the nerve seeing as we have two free range cats, one of which is a good little hunter. Well, birdy’s smarter than you might think, because he swoops into the garden in the morning while the kitties are inside having their breakfast.

I’m not fretting too much though. First of all he doesn’t seem to be inviting his mates over, and secondly he hasn’t attacked the main growing points of most of the plants he’s pecked. Also, he seems to have gone for the weedier plants and has mostly left the big strong ones alone.

The RHS website suggests that you can shoot pigeons, but that isn’t practical or safe in a tiny garden and besides it seems cruel and pointless – other birds would fly in to replace him soon enough. I was rather hoping that my cats would scare most birds away but they seem to have spent most of February asleep indoors instead.

So it seems that prevention is better than cure. In future I will be guarding my brassicas more carefully, and maybe also my peas. One of the best things you can do is to use netting, but unfortunately one of the cats insists on getting tangled up in anything like that whenever I try to use it.

I’ve had to improvise with what’s lying around, including bubble wrap and string for the smaller plants (looks terrible but seems to work).

At the suggestion of Alys Fowler I’ve also used some upturned hanging baskets to protect the growing points, and this seems to be working too. What I like best about this is that the green wires and green twine don’t show up so much, less of the ‘municipal tip chic’ look.

It was time to bring in the last of the sprouts at the weekend, so I left the non-useable remains of the sprout top out for the pigeon to peck at in the hope that this will take his mind off the other plants.

One more thing I would say is if you suspect pigeon damage, take action quickly, in case they come back en masse later. A hungry flock of winter pigeons can strip your plants back to the stems in a few minutes. Prevention is better than cure and you can’t rely on nearby cats to keep the pests away in cold weather.

So there you have it – cheap and easy ways to stop wood pigeons eating your cabbages, broccoli and pea plants.

Do you have any other advice about how to keep wood pigeons out of your garden and stop them eating your crops? Please tell me all about it!

Many problems can be overcome by chucking expensive chemicals at them, but it isn’t a guaranteed fix and you wouldn’t necessarily want to eat your veggies afterwards.

Let’s start with a little ‘murder mystery’, shall we? Look at the picture below and guess what disease or creature caused this damage to this sprouting broccoli plant.

Competition: The first correct ‘Diagnosis Murder’ answer left in the comments section below will win a mini-collection of vegetable seeds suitable for growing in a small garden. (UK entrants only). The answer will be revealed on Friday morning so you’ll need to be quick.

The garden has been very productive for the most part, but there have been problems with animals of all sizes:

• pets (not all of them mine)
• ants
• blackfly and other aphids
• slugs and snails
• foxes
• assorted birds
• butterflies and moths
• beet leaf miners
• wasps

Amazingly there was no carrot root fly, but that’s probably because I did some companion planting and stuck to the rules about thinning and harvesting. I’ll write about those on another occasion.

Plus there have been problems with diseases, mainly:

• Downy mildew
• Rust
• Mosaic virus
• General stem rot

The one thing I was most worried about was blight, but the area I live in escaped somehow so we ended up with strong and healthy tomato and potato plants. That could have been because we had some long hot stretches over the summer, or it could have been blind luck.

I’ll be writing about all kinds of garden pests and diseases – and how to cheaply stop them destroying all your crops – over the next few weeks, as the gardening year starts to take shape. On Friday I’ll begin by tackling our mystery ‘friend’ from the crime scene above.

Have you had problems with any garden pests or diseases? Did you manage to deal with them without using harsh chemicals? Any tips for other growers?

In quick summary, it’s the grow-your-own-food book I really hoped that somebody would write because it’s exactly what I wanted to buy. It has the advantage of being written by a foodie and professional cook, so it starts with delicious fruit and veg you’d want to eat rather than just basic stuff you can grow.

It’s a very impressive book, and is so beautifully laid out and illustrated that I’d have to describe it as ‘allotment porn’. First and foremost, you don’t actually need to have an allotment to get the most out of New Urban Farmer – it’s fine if you have a small garden, a raised bed, or containers such as pots or window boxes. Best of all, if you’re new to food gardening or coming back to it after a break, it gives you a comprehensive overview of what’s possible in a smallish space and tell you the basics of what you need to do to get started and keep going. The most important points of pest and disease control are covered, as are green issues.

The chapters run month by month, and there’s a handy table in each chapter to tell you what to plant indoors, what to plant outdoors, what you can plant in containers, and what to pick for eating. Next to each what-to-pick there’s also a page reference for growing tips or recipes. The recipes really make the book, and are all innovative and either vegetarian or vegan. Every chapter gives you a list of the most important jobs to do around the garden that month too.

The writing style is conversational and largely practical, and the author communicates her enthusiasm very effectively. At the end of the book there’s a helpful list of recommended suppliers (I’ve used many of them in the past and have to agree), and another list of further reading. If I was being picky, I’d say that one minor fault in the book is a lack of mention of specific plant varieties, so you get generic ‘beetroot’ without mention of, say, the ‘Boltardy’ variety that new gardeners might find easy to grow. However, that is a minor gripe and there’s a limit to how much information you can put into a book of this nature without making it overlong.

To conclude, New Urban Farmer is an extremely attractive book aimed at new or returning food gardeners. It’s inspiring and engaging, and would make a lovely gift or you could just buy a copy as a treat for yourself.

New Urban Farmer by Celia Brooks Brown, published by Quadrille on 5th March 2010, with an RRP of £14.99