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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

I'm rather proud of the plot at the moment. It's weeded, fed, mulched and manured, the potatoes are chitted and in, and the beds are ready. Best of all, I've just top dressed my paths with lovely wood chips, which set the whole thing off to a 'T

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 them to improve the compost.I'...

. If you have light, free-draining soil, you can start planting potatoes outside. I have very heavy clay soil in my garden, which is still a bit too wet for potatoes, so I’m putting it off for a little longer.I’ll sow some hardy annual flower seeds outside

heavy rainfall, and provide the soil with sufficient quantities of magnesium to keep your plants healthy. Use a magnesium leaf spray, such as Epsom salts, on potatoes for a quick, temporary solution in summer. Apply Epsom salts or calcium

, as they don't need supporting and their side shoots do not require pricking out. Bush tomatoes grow well in a hanging basket or pot, both in a greenhouse and outdoors.Bush tomato 'Gartenperle'Potatoes may be grown in a container or in the ground. Early

The foliage and stems of vegetable crops, such as potatoes, beans, peas, etc. Also known as bine.

The process of encouraging seed potatoes to sprout roots by exposing them to sunlight before planting out.

Make Halloween extra-special by growing your own pumpkins from seed. Learn how in this archive clip from BBC Gardeners' World (please note that the seed trial Monty mentions is no longer running).springMore advice on growing vegetablesGrow potatoes

Also referred to as ridging, to earth up is to cover roots with a thick layer of soil. It's particularly associated with potatoes, to prevent greening of the tubers.