At last all the sowing and planting out of vegetables is complete; the leeks (Musselburgh) are now in their final growing place. But I fill up space that becomes empty, such as when the potatoes are lifted, with the green manure "Crimson Clover". So section A. is now filled with clover sown in rows one foot apart.

As mentioned earlier in the year, the brassicas in the plot were badly affected with Club Root. This was almost certainly brought in with the potting compost that I bought to raise seedlings in Rootrainers for planting out. Affected plants looked very sad compared with the sturdy growth of unaffected plants. I've now dug out all the affected plants plus the immediate soil and dumped it in our wheelie bin. So this year we've been a bit short of cauliflower (Candid Charm) and calabrese (Chevalier).

Blight is a serious problem for potatoes. This year it has been particularly bad in Fife but absent in dry East Anglia. My catch crop of first early potatoes was lifted before the blight struck and the tubers are blight free. But with the wet weather in August, the main crop soon showed signs of blight. I followed the recommendations by cutting off all the shaws and dumping them. I was too late; when the potatoes were lifted after a couple of weeks many of the tubers were affected. More than half of the Kestrels were affected. Other varieties were also affected. Now I'll check all the stored potatoes for blighted tubers. Fortunately, the crop was good so we may still have enough to last until next year's first earlies are ready for lifting.

The French have a word for it, and it's "Courge". It covers vegetables of the marrow family. We use the diminutive form of "Courgette" to describe marrows that are harvested when they are small. The plant breeders have produced varieties that, when harvested at four inches long, have firmer flesh and more taste than fully grown marrows.

Courgettes are one of the most prolific cropping vegetables in the allotment. There's even a book titled "What will I do with all these courgettes?" It's quite amazing how quickly a tasty four inch fruit will grow to an insipid foot long monster. So cropping every few days is needed. This frequent cropping also stimulates the plant to keep producing new fruits rather than putting all its energy into one giant fruit. My choice of variety is Defender and I grow four plants. They yield about six fruits when harvested twice a week and go on cropping for months.

Left to their own devices courgettes are untidy plants. They sprawl widely over the ground; the fruits lie on the soil and spoil, particularly when the flowers get wet and the rot spreads to the fruit; side shoots are difficult to remove; the tired lower leaves conceal both fruits and weeds then go rotten and the whole plant becomes congested.

The answer is to grow them up a stake. This way the fruits are kept clear of the soil and visible; side shoots can be cut out; tired old brown leaves can be removed; the plants take up less space; air can circulate round the foliage and weeds are visible for removal. I use metal rods inserted when the plants are set out. Early growth is upright but the plants soon start to lean over. This is the time to tie the stems to the stakes. Old tights are ideal, they are soft and elastic to prevent damage to the plant stems. Keep tying up as the plants grow and remove lower ties as the plant stems thicken. Then just go on harvesting lots of succulent young fruits. If necessary, buy the book! But friends and neighbours usually welcome any surplus.

B. A. Plotter.