Around mid-summer the overwintered onions are ready. This type – sometimes known as Japanese Onions – are hardy enough to sow in Autumn and mature much earlier than traditional ones. This leaves time for another crop to jump straight into the raised Air-Pot bed. The Japanese / overwintering onion was previously considered not to store for long – but this new variety Hi-Keeper claims to be a good storage onion.

Carrots sown in February directly into a 20 litre pot have produced a worthwhile crop of 1.7kg. They have very clean roots without a hint of root-fly damage.

Peas started in a small Air-Pot seed tray have matured early. Sowing in a tray works well compared to separate small pots or modules which can easily dry out, or the roots become congested. The small plants can be pulled apart and planted into the ground or a large pot. A large Air-Pot planted with hardy Meteor peas has cropped well with the plants reaching a height of over 60cm double the expected 30-40cm.

As an experiment some raspberry canes were planted in an Air-Pot and are proving productive. However they are greedy plants so may not be happy in the same pot long-term. Building up the plant for a year in an Air-Pot container then planting out might be a good strategy avoiding the less productive year which follows setting out bare root canes in-ground. A few strong Air-Pot grown canes could be brought on for a season ready to fill gaps in the plot with established clumps. Of course container growers could just move raspberries up to bigger pots or divide and multiply to maintain vigour.

Favourite hostas keep coming back strongly every year with little slug and snail damage.

The tallest growing tomato varieties have been set out in a new extra tall glazed shed. We are trying some types which always hit the roof including Amish Paste and Giant Tree Tomato. The plan is to become self sufficient in pizza sauce!