Bounty on a budget - SEED SOWING

In this fifth of a six-part series, expert grower Sally Nex shows how to get the most out of your plot, with advice on seed sowing now so you can be one step ahead for next year's harvests

The daily routine in the veg garden takes on more urgency in September. There's a faint whiff of winter in the air on cooler evenings, the first fallen leaves are crackling underfoot, and you know you've just a month or so of good weather left to get your bounty in and safely stored.

At the same time, you're filling seed trays again: sow early spring crops now and you can get picking again as soon as possible next year. The more you do to provide yourself with homegrown food year-round, the less you'll visit the fresh food aisle in the supermarket and the lower your carbon footprint will be. You'll save yourself a small fortune, too, especially nowadays with food prices rising almost every time you shop.

This month we're sharing tips for making the transition into autumn as smooth as possible, and for setting up your veg patch ready to do it all again next year!

Ready to pick

Squash and pumpkins are colouring up beautifully now. Take off any leaves that are shading fruits to let the sun ripen their skins and raise larger squash on bricks so air can circulate underneath. You'll know they're ready to harvest when you knock them and they sound hollow the plants also start dying back naturally. Cut fruits with about 10cm of stalk intact and leave in a greenhouse or on a sunny windowsill indoors for two weeks to harden the skins. They'll keep for months somewhere dry and frost free.

Dig up your maincrop potatoes, too. These are slow-maturing varieties that you can store, keeping you in chemical-free, zero-food-miles spuds well into winter. Check your harvest and set aside any damaged tubers for eating straightaway, then dry off the rest in the sun for two hours. Brush off excess dirt (no need to wash them), then store them in a frost-free dark place in paper or hessian sacks.

Sow it now