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draw up a crop rotation plan. I actually drew a rough outline of where I was going to grow this year's crops in the autumn, before putting in the onions and garlic. Typically, I never got around to finishing it off.My crop rotation plan comprises a

towards the shallots and garlic, only growing a few onions which we've used pretty quickly. This year, having realised - finally - that I find shallots a bit of a faff, I grew more onions than ever. I dried them diligently on the patio, dodging the rain

Jekka McVicar's 10 companion plantsJekka McVicar's organic herb garden achieved a gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show 2009. We caught up with her at the show to discover her top 10 herbs for growing as companion plants.Companion planting

bouts of windy weather, they haven't required any support (larger varieties do sometimes need some help, though) and they've needed very little feeding. I just couldn't imagine being without ornamental alliums. And their close relatives garlic, onion

It hasn’t been a vintage year in my garden. The growing season started off well with the warm spring – good for garlic and onions - but the weather deteriorated soon after that. So, I’m actually quite relieved now that autumn is here. I can forget

trumpets bursting open at tip of yellow courgettes are pure beauty – and yes, they are good enough to eat (deep fried in a tempura batter sounds appetising).Flowers adorn climbing beans, squash, tomatoes, aubergines, chillies, garlic chives and many more

worthwhile. A short row of raspberries just 1.2m long has produced several pickings, used to add tasty home-grown vitamins to my morning bowl of cereal. Blackberries are now taking over, and I'd thoroughly recommend thornless varieties to give regular

'Charlotte' for our lunch. (I've still got a few Charlottes left in store and although it's a second early salad variety I find it keeps really rather well). I've also got plenty of garlic and onions still in store for the obligatory turkey curry!But up

the top layer of soil, replace it with fresh, home-made compost and give all the plants a good water. Any vine weevil grubs will be dispatched to the blackbird, and the thyme replaced with some garlic chives, which I'm ready to plant out. I'll prune out

To celebrate Gardeners' World Magazine's Harvest Week, running from 12-18 September, I thought I'd share a few of my favourite easy harvest recipes. One of them is a salad - so isn't technically a recipe - but it's so good it's worth a mention