Are you the owner of a new allotment? Are you wondering if there is anything that can be done to improve your plot at this time of year? Or which vegetable seeds may be sown this month?

On a sunny day, an allotment can be a very pleasant place. Renting an allotment is one way to gain plenty of fresh air, healthy exercise and, with any luck, an attractive view. There should be plenty of inspiration to grow your own food. On most allotments one is surrounded by the results of other people’s labour: wonderful fruit and vegetables in neat rows - all ripe and waiting to be harvested.

Preparation

Autumn is the right time to prepare the ground. Most vegetables require a fertile soil, rich in humus. The best way to achieve this is by thoroughly digging the ground and adding well-rotted manure. Later the soil can be re-worked to make a seedbed, by breaking up the clods into a finer tilth. It is usual to leave a gap between digging and the creating of a seedbed, as frost action helps to break the clods. If possible, aim to tackle the digging in easy stages - a little each day – as this allows time for muscles to build up.

Seed to sow

Onions may be sown in August. Some gardeners sow suitable varieties as late as the first week in September. But it is worth remembering that late crops remain in the ground for as long as 46 weeks before harvesting, whereas it will only be necessary for summer-sown onions to stay in the soil for about 22 weeks.

Spinach is a great standby for folks who grow their own veg. The winter variety of true spinach (the Broadleaf Prickly annual sort) may be sown in August and September. But note that whereas summer varieties may be grown in a fairly shady part of the garden or allotment, it is generally best to find a sunnier patch for the winter varieties. Harvest the leaves, as soon as they reach an edible size, but a few should be left on each plant. In colder areas, some form of cloche protection may be necessary in winter.

Parsley is another year-round plant. Bravour, the winter-resistant dark green variety, may be sown indoors at any time of year. Choose a 12cm pot and fill with compost. Sow and cover the seed with a thin layer of more compost. Pop the pot into a polythene bag and keep at a temperature of about 60F until the seed germinates.

Time for planting

On some allotments, gardeners are permitted to grow dwarf apple and pear trees. Planting time is from November to early April, so this is a good time to order new trees. Vines and soft fruits are also widely grown in Britain. And rhubarb is strictly speaking a vegetable, but it is generally cooked and eaten as a pudding fruit. The recommended time to plant the latter is in late autumn.

Ken Muir’s paperback Grow Your own Fruit is essential reading for anyone interested in fruit. Besides apples and pears, mulberries and nuts of various kinds, gooseberries, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, cherries and other stone fruits, are well covered. And there are pages of impartial information on less common fruits - cranberries, figs, grapes, jostaberries and the unusual kiwi.