I always try to record in a notebok all the things i have grown at the allotment, and which ones have been the most successful. This gives me something to look back on and will eventually provide me with a list of sure-fire winners I can return to growing year-after-year.

This year, even with all the rain, has not been without successes.

Courgettes
These are always fairly easy but the amount of rain this year seemed to turbo charge my courgettes and at times there were simply too many to use. It’s good that my neighbours like them too! I always grow a variety of shapes and colours including ‘Zucchino Romanesco’ from Franchi seeds. These are mid-green fruits with long ridges down the sides that store well in the fridge. I also grew two types from the Kings Seeds catologue: Dark green ‘Zuccini’ and the spherical yellow ‘Floridor F1′.

Shallots
I have never grown these before but they were incredibly easy. I bought sets from my local Potato Festival and planted them in late january into small pots of compost. In late february these were planted out at the allotment and watered in. I did no more than weeding until July when the foliage began to die off and I harvested them. I still have a large bowl to use in cooking and I may keep a few for planting next year. The variety I grew is called ‘Jermor’.

Carrots
Up till now my efforts with carrots have been dismal. My soil is heavy and full of stones, not a recipe for great carrots and so I tried a short rooted variety (from Kings Seeds again) called ‘Paris Market Baron’ this year in the hope that they would be able to grow despite the soil conditions. I have managed to get a far better crop than ever before, although there were losses to the slugs.

Anyone who grows fruit and veg in their garden or at an allotment will be able to remember their own crops turning up in unusual forms with regularity.

This weekend I dug up my first crop of parsnips, many of them were knobbly. Some, where I had obviously dropped a few seeds into the same area, had grown into a fantastic confusion of twisted roots. They came out ridged and sensuously curvy where they had grown around their neighbours.

The Times reports that the EU have finally decided to end the ban on selling strangly shaped fruit and veg in the supermarkets. (You can read it here) I think that this is a sensible idea and it’s a shame they have taken so long to put an end to the waste that this regulation must cause.

After all, there is nothing wrong with this food apart from the way it looks. It may be fiddly to prepare but it will taste the same as more photogenic specimens. I hope it will also mean that fruit and veg grown in this country will have an easier time making it into our supermarkets.

Of course, if you want to have a go at growing your own ‘interesting’ vegetables then try the tips for growing your own here. Believe it or not this is a good time to start planning a vegetable garden or allotment because you can set up beds, improve soil and order you seeds at this time of the year. Then you’ll be ready to start growing in spring 2009.