Veggies for the whole year

Sow some now and treat existing problems, says Ruth

- Ruth Hayes

WE don’t have an enormous amount of room for fruit and veg so we concentrate on the crops we know we will use the most.

In summer we grow beans (runner and French), garlic, onions and shallots, squash and the inevitable tomatoes in the greenhouse and on the patio. This year I’m also growing potatoes in containers with great success so far.

In winter we grow leafy crops, and this week I have been sowing some chard d watering our curly kale seedlings, moving them from a windowsill to the mini greenhouse to harden off.

I have also spent time tackling an outbreak of aphids on a globe artichoke. I don’t want to use chemicals because the flowers are loved by bees and other pollinators so I have been squishing them by hand – not the nicest of jobs.

Fast-growing summer crops including beetroot and spring onions can be sown now for an autumn harvest, but do remember to keep them well watered, and thin them out of necessary.