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Now the chaos of Christmas is over, I can settle down to some serious shopping. In January and February I like to get all my seed and plant orders underway; it's usually the perfect weather to stay indoors, warm and cosy, contemplating the season

on the go but, what with the slug wars of the summer, I clean forgot to sow any! Fortunately good old catalogue mail order has come to the rescue and a dozen cabbage plants arrived through the post the other day. They look a bit peaky but that's down to them

and tolerate more shade than sweet cherries, though beware of claims that they grow well on north-facing walls as they can become spindly. When it comes to planting on an allotment or small space, their size and spread make them ideal.I've ordered a variety

expect your site is just the same. Yes, it's bean planting time and everyone is a-bustle on the site building all the wigwams, tunnels and trestles ready to support the massive growth of French and runner beans.Many people favour wigwams – I do

it's good to be getting something back into the lovely, clean beds. Hopefully, with the belated April showers we've been having lately, the seedlings will be up and away at a rate of knots, and young plants will be covering the ground before the weeds

was depressing to see from the window, especially remembering what a pretty garden it had once been.So, last season I decided to take a few short cuts on the allotment in order to give myself more time to change things at home. I cadged spare plants from friends

, low-maintenance and rewarding. Considering their price at the supermarket, they are also inexpensive.Don't be tempted to impulse-buy those specimens stuffed into pots that you see in large garden centres. In my experience, mail order plants from

We've just been allocated more space on the allotment, so we now have a full sized plot. As well as planting many more spuds - which will keep the 'old man' happy - we can also plant the cutting garden my daughter always wanted. Despite

When I first started growing shallots I did so on the advice of Sam, on our allotment (aged 90 he was still tending his plot twice a day). He told me to plant shallots on the shortest day and harvest them on the longest. I'm a bit more haphazard

ordered a plum tree for the allotment. It would have been lovely to go to Brogdale to eat my way through some of the 350 varieties they keep there, but instead I took the advice of fruit tree expert Paul Jasper.Some allotments don't allow trees at all