Growing Success - Top Tips

• Rather than planting smaller crops in beds, why not try a raised bed system? Raised beds allow for the soil to heat up quicker than flat beds and cope better with flooding. For some reason, they also seem easier to maintain and keep weed free.
• To keep the birds off your brassicas, purchase (or even better - make) a child's windmill. Crows, pigeons and other cabbage munchers will steer clear of anything animated or flashing.
• Pumkins can grow to become quite huge and take up large areas of an allotment as their tendrils sprawl outwards. To minimise land used, try encouraging your pumkins to spiral around their main stems. Train your plant daily for the best results.