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immediate allotment neighbours were there and a small impromptu conference took place on my plot to discuss the weighty topic of potatoes.I'm going to plant lots of potatoes — a handful of first earlies called 'Riviera' (one I've not tried before) and a good

I've been harvesting potatoes like a lunatic for the past few weeks. First earlies and second earlies always seem to be ready at the same time.I've been digging up some gloriously rotund first earlies, which have been brilliant for baking, roasting

, 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

If you ask me, there's very little that beats home-grown potatoes from the plot. They're so easy to grow, pay little heed to the vagaries of our weather and produce an abundance of lovely spuds throughout the season. In short, potatoes are one

I'm in a quandary over what to do about potato blight (Phytophthora infestans), a fungal infection that causes foliage to develop dark patches and can result in the rotting of the tubers. We didn't seem to suffer from it at all on my last plot

It's always good to aim high, isn't it? I had lofty ambitions of getting all my potatoes in last weekend, along with my shallot and onion sets. But it wasn't to be. I literally ran out of steam with an aching back and tired feet.So round two

on the train.Not one to miss an opportunity, I decided this might be a good time to 'share' the management of the whole allotment and make him a co-director. He was thrilled."I don't suppose you want to bother with borlotti beans", I ventured. What followed

plenty of young leaves, the courgettes are doubling in size and the potatoes are coming into flower. When potatoes are in flower they need a lot of water, as this is when they're growing tubers. All newly planted crops need regular watering in dry spells

Making good compost has become something of an obsession for me lately. At idle moments, I've found myself contemplating the two heaps on my allotment. Affectionately called 'hedge heap' and 'new heap', I've been considering what else I could add

to come.I do an awful lot of shopping by mail order, not because I don't like my local garden centre (on the contrary - it's fab) but because it's fun flicking through all the catalogues, working out just how many varieties of salad potato we can