I’ve been growing vegetables for a few years now, but each year I seem to forgot what I need to do when.

Often I find myself referring to seed packets, books or the internet.

The crop that always catches me out is the onions.

Although they are probably the most obvious crop, I tend to forget to lift them to let them dry out.

Luckily, a week ago, while phoning my brother for potato harvesting advice – he told me that I should lift them that very day because a few straight days of warm weather and sunshine was predicted.

I did just that and he was right.

They began to dry out wonderfully. It was only about four days later when I was admiring them from the kitchen window, that the heavens showed signs of opening.

It was 8pm, I was cooking, but I did (what is now) the annual rush outside to load the onions into barrows to store them in the shed.

At the same time I was cursing myself for not thinking ahead and looking at the weather forecast to avoid my last minute rush to gather them in.

I was just in time.

They are now nestled safely in the shed, along with the shallots, drying further and will keep us going through the winter.