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Besides the brassica family (which have been an all out success on my plot this year, in case I haven't mentioned this before) my herbs have grown really well. The wet weather seems to have suited their growth and they are very leafy, lush and flavoursome. From seed I've grown ba...

I love the first harvest of the new season - it's so welcome after the long dark winter. For a while now, I've been harvesting winter veg, such as leeks, kale and cabbage. These stalwarts of the plot have meant we've had fresh veg for soups

The long chilly winter evenings are ideal for looking back on the year and reflecting on its triumphs and disasters. Some triumphs are of my own making - my carrots were fantastic thanks to my sowing the seeds at the right time, unlike last year

!Now I'm busily into planting up all the winter and spring crops - all my brassicas including kale, cabbages and purple-sprouting broccoli. My young purple-sprouting looks glorious - really well grown and leafy, though I do say so myself. But I always

Spring is in the air, and plants are beginning to shake off their winter dormancy. The birds and bees are making a cautious appearance, along with my fellow allotmenteers.My neighbours Ron and Mrs Ron were hard at it last weekend - they've got three

I really love Christmas - it's the only thing that cheers up winter for me (except snowdrops, which give me something to smile about in February). 'Bah humbug' is simply not in my vocabulary. And the kitschier and more traditional Christmas

I have a confession to make. After raving about the arrival of the purple sprouting broccoli and extolling the virtues of winter veg in my blog last week I realised that I had forgotten to mention red cabbages. Not only are red cabbages easy to grow

and produce much smaller bulbs. I know, I've tried it!Growing garlic is easy and hugely rewarding. You can plant it now or leave it until later on in the autumn or winter - whatever you like, it really doesn't matter. All that does matter is that the bulbs

I was starting to wonder if we would get a frost this October. The weather’s been so meek and mild of late, with winter looking a far way off. Global warming, I thought, has led to unseasonally balmy weather on the hillsides of Bath.But now we

next year my plot will be free of aphids, brassica whitefly and countless other pests that survive mild winters, and multiply with a vengeance in early spring. Mild winters are a boon to many garden pests; pests such as whitefly can shelter in the folds