COLUMN: 'Having a polytunnel or greenhouse can extend your growing season' says Derbyshire allotment holder

The first big addition to our allotment is our new polytunnel from First Tunnels which is absolutely incredible. This year I want to try and grow all year in it, hopefully having all the winter veggies ready to go in once the summer crop is done.

Having a polytunnel or greenhouse is hugely advantageous due to the fact you can extend your growing season and protect things over the winter. My advice is that if you are thinking of getting one, look at the best one you can afford as they really are made to last compared to the cheaper ones on the market.

I think we can all agree that these temperatures we keep dropping down to are getting a little depressing, especially when we are all excited about the prospects of a great growing season filled with lots of lovely fruit and vegetables. I have already planted out some of my tomatoes in the polytunnel and they are doing great despite of it.

We have also secured ourselves two greenhouses at the plot, one for growing in and the smaller one I will be turning into a seed station where i will do all of our sowing. This way I won't have to grow around make shift shelfs and have pots and trays all over the place.

Now I get not everyone has the space to house all of this, not without an allotment anyway, but have you never thought of applying for one? Some waiting lists can be quite long and to be honest when I got the call about mine, I'd totally forgotten that I had even applied for one. They really are worth the investment of time and money if you love being outside, growing and in our case teaching the children where and how we get our food, and for £20 a year who could argue.

As we are almost into May, things should hopefully be warming up, so we can make up for the set backs from a cold and wet spring. Now is a perfect time to sow things like courgette, pumpkin and beans. All these are really easy to grow and something we seem to get through a plenty.While the allotment always takes up a big chunk of time during the spring, we certainly haven't neglected our garden. I have been busy getting it ready for summer, tidying, planting, painting and also making a path through the lawn. (See a how to video on our Instagram page).

We have also added our tenth tree fern to our new build garden, a smaller one than usual, but stacked with character. Gardens really are for enjoying and like I always say, do what makes you happy, even if other people sometimes cast a shadow.We love growing our own food and keeping exotic plants at home, it really does make you feel like you are somewhere else on a warm sunny evening, not that I can remember what one is.

May also sees the start of the big garden shows across the country so I hope to get to some of them and show off some of the ideas that we could all incorporate into our gardens and allotments.

If you love growing your own, gardening in general with a little bit of mindset and positivity around dealing with cancer, be sure to check us out on Instagram where I post daily about what we are getting up to. (a_life_in_the_garden)