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time, our damson tree has cropped. This seems to have been the best year for growing stone fruit in ages - the crop is enormous. Just today we were harvesting damsons, filling trugs to the brim with soft, superbly tasty fruits. It was worth the wait

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

. Remove a generous bunch with secateurs.Squash the berries onto a sheet of kitchen towel and clean away the skin and flesh to expose the bare seeds. Alternatively, clean away the flesh by running them under the cold tap in a sieve.Fill a small pot

to sow any butternut squash seeds; it was too late by the time I realised.I try to stick to my crop rotation plan and to save time, I sow many seeds directly into the ground, such as carrots, beetroot, chard and parsnips. This method works, as long

then the air was positively dripping. So, I'm amazed at just how little blight I've seen on tomatoes or potatoes.There was some blight on a few of the potato varieties I've been growing this year, but even then the brown patches on the leaves remained as tight

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

, amaranth, squashes, broad beans and also lupins, which they harvested for their seeds.The terraces proved perfect for the production of food. The stone walls would warm up quickly, creating a warmer microclimate within the terrace and enabling some crops

that it's stopped and I've dried out - horribly dismal. And what's more it stopped me heading up to the plot for a good clear up session after the frosts.You see I love a good tidy up! The frost will have turned everything that was still attempting to grow

on the apple trees is already showing its colours and the fruits are changing shade as they ripen. The pumpkins and butternut squashes, too, are showing a hint of colour and the sweet corn tassels have turned brown at long last, which means they should

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