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There are always a few jobs that I hate doing at this time of year. One of them is pulling out the overwintered plants that have flowered and set seed. It seems such a shame to remove these plants when they're only doing what nature intended.But I

plenty of young leaves, the courgettes are doubling in size and the potatoes are coming into flower. When potatoes are in flower they need a lot of water, as this is when they're growing tubers. All newly planted crops need regular watering in dry spells

. While I was there I thought I may as well do a couple of jobs, so I set about thinning out the fruit on the apple trees. This year my three apple trees have flowered and set fruit beautifully; the branches are laden with bunches of marble-sized fruits

the pretty ones, leaving the others to grow to gargantuan proportions.Broad beans need picking regularly to ensure the plants keep flowering and producing beans, so mine have inevitably stopped cropping. The stems are laden with pods so large they're getting

in full flower and producing seed, so I thought I'd collect the seed to sow next year.The parsnip looks magnificent in flower. It's so strong and sturdy that it looks like it could take on a Siberian winter and still taste sweet. As for the leeks, they

I'm not a great one for growing flowers on my plot. Maybe I shy away from raising flowering plants on the allotment because I grow so many in my main job (as head gardener at The Bath Priory Hotel). I've grown marigolds as companion plants

prolific weeds in my beds. It's actually quite a charming plant, with little blue flowers and a creeping habit. But it gets everywhere. It has a nasty habit of hiding under plants, where it sets its roots down close to the stem. This makes it difficult

of flowers and now I'm getting some beans at long last. If you're suddenly overwhelmed by beans Delia's got a lovely chutney recipe.This year, we're growing a variety that I've wanted to try for years. It's beautifully named 'Painted Lady' and it appeals

produced flower buds and the purple-sprouting broccoli which was cropping fabulously only a couple of weeks ago has gone to flower.It seems only a couple of weeks ago that I was harvesting tight clusters of purple-sprouting for the steamer but almost

It's all go at the moment, there's so much to do. The recent hot weather has had quite an impact on the plot - plants have doubled in size, flowers are abundant, the onions are trying to bolt and I've got a spring in my step.When there's so much