Potatoes and tomatoes
Nothing from a shop tastes like one picked warm. Outdoors they need your sunniest, most sheltered spot.
Keep them well away from potatoes: blight spreads between the two.
Sow indoors on a warm windowsill from late February. Pot the seedlings on, harden them off for two weeks, and plant out only when the frosts have finished. Tie tall varieties to a cane and pinch out the side shoots; bush varieties can be left alone. Feed every week once the first fruits set.
Pick as they colour. At the end of the season, bring green fruit indoors to ripen in a drawer with a banana.
What goes wrong
The same disease as potatoes, and worse outdoors in wet summers. Choose a blight-resistant variety for the allotment.
Uneven watering. Water little and often rather than flooding dry plants.
A black patch under the fruit, from drying out. Keep the soil evenly moist.
Good neighbours: Basil, Marigolds.
Same family