Ever bite into a delicious-looking apple, only to be rewarded with a chunk of mealy pulp? Or take a swig of milk, and get something lumpy in your mouth? Yeah, yuck. Well, it turns humans have company ...

This time of year ushers in a wonderful harvest of fruit; figs, pears, quince, persimmons, apples, damsons, and plums start to fall to the ground and await collection by us gardeners to bake and stew ...