Pushing your luck or what vegetables will grow late in the year

Top tip: Don't always believe what the gardening books say - they are guidelines written to suit the whole of Britain and so don't allow for the fact that you may live in a warmer (or colder area) of Britain.

I planted mangetout back in July after the potatoes had been cleared as they had been such a success earlier in the year. While they have now succumbed to mildew they did grow big enough to start cropping and I got a good 200g off them which isn't bad when you consider how much they cost in shops - a bonus crop really rather than a real alternative to spring sowing.

I also popped in some more potato seedlings at around the same time as they were sprouting like made and £1 in the pound shop.  The main idea was to use them to clear a patch of land that was riddled with debris and if I managed to get a crop out of them all the better.  The other day I was earthing up the plants (drawing up the soil to protect the plants and create more space for the tubers to grow) with a rake (a Bernie tip) and spotted a decent sized potato so it seems to be working. I had read that some people put in a second lot of potatoes and are able to eat fresh new potatoes at Christmas. Fingers crossed.

Elsewhere on the plot, brussell sprout heads are starting to form and I have a few mini cauliflowers. I will let these develop a little before harvesting them but doubt they will ever attain the monster size of Mark the elder's (whose plot has been completely left to its own devices - tut tut).

This week I also planted gooseberry bushes and raspberries as I want to redress the balance between fruit and veg. I also suspect that fruit are easier to look after themselves.  I hope they don't grow too big as I seem to have at least 3 gooseberry bushes now.  Must go and measure the bushes on other plots!