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I love pointing to a jar of chutney, knowing I've grown all the ingredients used to make it. I don't make too much chutney every year, because - despite living in a house of carnivores - I'm the only one who eats it.  Isn't cold meat, crusty white

We've just received our letter of renewal on the allotment lease - it always reminds me of how fortunate we are to be able to rent the land for such a small amount of money. Others might not be feeling so content.  At this time of year some plot

I have a confession to make: I haven't been up to the plot for a week or so and, what's more I can't see me getting up there for the next week or two either... I know it's the right time of year to get on top of digging, manuring and tidying

It suddenly feels like summer is gone! The days are shorter almost overnight and there's that autumnal nip in the air of a morning, which is making me think that my summer harvests are going to start drawing to a close very quickly. There was even a

I'm always rather staggered by Jerusalem artichokes. Firstly, by their impressive and evocative name; it makes me think of exotic locations with correspondingly interesting cuisine and highly sought-after seasonal foods of subtle flavour. Secondly

It may have been a lousy summer for growing many crops but the wet weather bodes well for my compost.It's always 'alright' rather than 'wonderful', unlike the stuff I make at work, which is always lovely: friable, richly dark and full of worms, just

variety I'll invest in for the allotment.It won't be long before I'm making one of my favourite desserts: blackcurrant leaf ice. It's an old Constance Spry sorbet recipe which is both heavenly and low in calories. In deference to Ms Spry

and make sure you keep the middle of the plant open - the idea is to create a sort of goblet shape to allow plenty of air to circulate through the plant to prevent mildew.If redcurrants are what you're after, there are around 40 types grown at Wisley, which

It's been difficult to choose my 2009 weed of the year. Butercups and daisies continue to compete with grass in my lawn, as do those lovely rosettes of plantain. Then there are the dandelions. Oh dear, this isn't making my lawn sound very good is it

, but that's a lot of potatoes to plant if you only have a small amount of space. Some allotment shops buy in seed potatoes then break up the packs so that you can buy smaller amounts. Similarly, potato fairs like the one held at Garden Organic in Coventry