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can spring up and choke them.I'm really thorough about preparing the bed before sowing, raking the soil to a fine tilth and drawing a drill with my hoe. It's not that straight admittedly as I can't find my line, but that's the trouble with tidying your

Bank holiday weekend was a bit of a blur, it went by so quickly. I didn't spend it on my allotment I'm rather sad to say, especially as the weather was so lovely. But I did get lots of fresh air and exercise, and talked allotments with Laura, an old

I've been letting a few crops run to seed this year. I left a few parsnips and a couple of rows of leeks over winter to be harvested as and when I needed them, but there were far too many of them and many stayed in the ground.In spring, the leeks

with the idea of bunging in a few extra winter and spring crops such as purple sprouting broccoli, kale and cabbage. And I'd like a few fairly quick croppers to see me through late summer and autumn, but I can't think of anything other than kohl rabi that'll do

Brambles are the unsung heroes of the fruit garden.A couple of weeks ago I was spring cleaning my store cupboard when I found a stray jar of blackberry jam trapped behind the mountain of marmalade. The pleasure I got when we opened it for breakfast

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

from 'Green Globe'.The best cultivar I have ever grown was 'Gros Vert De Laon', which I bought from a market in Normandy. Sadly, I left the plants on my last allotment, because it was too much effort to take everything with me. It was only afterwards

is the perfect time to start.It's too late to sow onion seed now, but you may find that friends still have some sets left over (my allotment neighbour gave me some surplus red onion sets - 'Red Baron' I think). I also bought white onions ('Marco' F1) from

delicious, it looks beautiful too. If you want to be very extravagant, buy a bottle of fizz and use the crème de cassis to make Kir Royale.My thanks to Valentine Warner. This is taken from his book 'What to eat in Spring and Summer.' I've shortened