Gardening: When an allotment plot turns up, there's no time to lose

You've had your name on an allotment waiting list for what seems like an eternity, when out of the blue, the local secretary phones to say that there is a vacant plot. Panic and delirium kick in alternately.

This was how it happened for me more than 20 years ago.

Our youngest son, Charlie, was two and unlikely to be an asset. My first thought was that I would have to refuse the plot. But if I turned it down, I might have a long wait until the next opportunity. So I took it on. In the early days, I managed with short daytime visits when Charlie dug holes and planted wobbly rows of onions, and longer evening visits when the children were in bed.

When the offer of a plot turns up, there is no time to lose in getting down to work. The weeds won't wait while you dither. The site committee will not be impressed if you cover it with plastic sheeting or old carpet. My recommendation is that whenever there is a bare patch of earth, you should get something planted. It would be simple if plots became vacant in the spring. But this rarely happens.

Newcomers to allotment gardening may not be familiar with green manures. These are fast-growing plants with fibrous roots whose foliage smothers weeds, earning you a bit of breathing space. You dig them into the ground while their leaves are still green and they return valuable nutrients to the soil. Mustard sown now can be dug into the ground in October.

Some green manures belong to the pea and bean family and have the additional benefit of storing nitrogen, which is good for increasing the fertility of your plot.

Most garden centres do not cater well for out of season veggie gardening, with a limited selection of seeds available. However, some mail order firms publish useful catalogues offering late summer and autumn inspiration.

I'm a fan of some autumn salad crops which flourish better in cool conditions than in the heat of the summer. Mizuna, radicchio and lambs lettuce are easy. Land cress is a delicious alternative to watercress. Perpetual spinach seeds will grow fast enough to harvest this year, and sprout again in the spring. So far I have given Christmas-cropping potatoes a miss. For me, new potatoes are for summer.

- This article was first was first published in The Scotsman on August 13, 2011