An autumn start

The approach of autumn may not be an obvious place to start, however this is the time to take stock or to make plans for next year's kitchen garden.

I have a dedicated vegetable patch, about 10 metres square, divided into 4 parts for potatoes; legumes (peas and beans); an onion and carrot bed; and the brassicas (cabbages, kale, broccoli etc.). I also have a polytunnel for tender crops and to extend the growing season, and a greenhouse for propagation.

Despite many people thinking not much will grow this far north, I and many others, find that most vegetables will crop well and that we can produce plenty of variety over a long period of time, especially when polytunnels are also involved.

My aim here is to encourage others to have a go and pass on my own experience, highs and lows.