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August can often feel like a tricky time on the allotment. Lots of things like salad potatoes and beetroot have been harvested, leaving large gaps or whole beds free. Then there's the interruption of a summer holiday - should you sow anything new

of these on the plants when I get there - the smaller gardeners in the family wait for them to ripen like a pair of vultures! Certainly one I'll have next year. Fingers crossed, none of the outdoor tomatoes have got blight yet, despite the fact that the potatoes went

wonderful thing this 'circle of life' is - as some things end, others begin to grow. And that's especially true on an allotment. My seedlings sown outdoors are starting to appear, thanks to the recent lovely rain, sunny days and warmer nights. The first

off in summer.
Chives, which refuse to grow in my shady garden; I miss them in potato salads.
Borlotti beans, for drying and storing in jars, then adding to winter stews. Butternut squash and several varieties of pumpkin, for hearty autumn soups

I'm sure there has been research done on how the colour of food affects our attitude to it. If it looks good then it hopefully tastes good too, but who wants to eat blue potatoes, purple carrots or orange cauliflowers?When it comes to salads I want

and rows of terraces.As well as being brilliant at building homes that could withstand the many earthquakes of the region, the Incas were also great gardeners. In their stone terraces, they grew many types of potato and corn, as well as quinoa, yuca

well as potatoes). To guarantee a crop then I have to apply a preventive spray using a fungicide like Dithane 945 (containing mancozeb).I know this is disappointing if you're trying to grow crops organically, and want to avoid spraying, but I don't know

versatile and can be chopped and added to all types of salads. Chive flowers have a similar taste and are delightful scattered over baked potatoes. Chopped celery leaf adds flavour and texture to salads and goes well with root vegetables. Rosemary is great

is the better, as far as I'm concerned. I love playing Christmas games and having a proper tree and proper food - preferably from the plot. We're still working our way through the sacks of potatoes in the garage so it's going to be roasted 'Picasso' and boiled

.On the basis that next summer surely can't be any shorter or cooler than the one we had in 2008, I've sent off for some sweet potato slips. I'm hoping that we'll have the right conditions for producing a successful harvest this time around (last year it seemed