Autumn in the garden

There was a time, before I really got into gardening, that I thought once summer was over there wasn't much to do in the garden except wait for spring.

Oh how wrong I was.

There is plenty of time to cosy up indoors with seed catalogues, dreaming of the wonderfully productive vegetable patch you will have and making plans with the children for theirs.

But the autumn is also time for you all to don your wellies and head outside to carry out some essential tasks so that you will have veggies to eat, and beautiful flowers to look at. Here's a list of things for you and your little helpers to get on with in the garden right now:

• Bulb planting: to ensure pots of spring flowers plant them now. Daffodils, followed by tulips, need to go in. If you're clever you can layer them, with tulips in first (later flowering bulbs go in first), compost then maybe narcissi

• Feed your soil: if you only do one thing this season do this. Spread home-made compost or well-rotted manure on your veg beds or dig a trench and add your kitchen compost then cover with soil. The worms will do the work for you

• Sow green manures: Field beans can be sown and will add nitrogen to your soil and preventing the rain washing away nutrients. Dig in during spring

• Sow Japanese onion sets and garlic: These will give you an early crop next spring and are hardy enough to withstand our winters

• Collect leaves: we collect these at school and store them in black bin bags with holes but some people make special cages with four stakes and chicken wire. It will take a year for the leaves to break down, spread them on your veggie patch when they have

• Sow winter salads: these can be grown in a greenhouse or outside, with protection

• Make bug houses: Provide shelter for them during winter and hopefully they'll help keep your garden pest free come spring. Leave sunflower stalks on the ground or cut and tie bamboo canes together

• Collect seeds: pick a dry day and harvest the seeds from plants such as sweet peas and calendula. Put them in an envelope and store somewhere dry and cool.

There are more online ideas for things to do in the garden with your children this autumn as well as suggestions for October jobs.

Photo: Debbie Webber