COLUMN: Derbyshire dad-of-four 'hoping and praying' son will be back helping on allotment soon - as brave boy faces another hospital stay

The allotment is ticking over nicely, all that hard work over the winter is paying dividends right now. If you remember, I stripped most of it back and layed horticultural membrane down to suppress the weeds and then covered it with a layer of bark, and so far it's definitely working making it much easier for us.

We have been harvesting all sorts, but so far our favourites have been courgettes, beetroot and some lovely squashes. The polytunnel is romping away, we have about 50 plants in there, but they just haven't been ripening fast enough due to this awful weather we have been getting.

As far as the garden goes, most of my plants absolutely adore the downpours. The tomatoes on the other hand don't! They love the warmth and a more regular watering rather than cold or humid with hardly any sunshine.

Don't forget to keep up with the watering and feeding of your tomatoes, remembering to water at the base of the plant to reduce the risk of blight. Blight is a disease that attacks the foliage and the fruits on the plant, causing them to rot. The most common factors are the warm and wet so having good ventilation is essential in stopping this disease that can easily wipe out a whole crop.

Most of our time over the last few weeks has been taken up renovating the back of our garden.

We have gained some extra space so we have moved our fence back and made a few extra areas. We have put a patio down, a deck made from scaffold boards, a pergola that doubles up as a swing and an area behind our garage screened off where the kids can play and have their own space.

That's something I really try to incorporate in our garden,a space that we can all enjoy without one or the other taking over. I love the jungle style plants and the kids love their climbing frame and mud kitchen.

We are having a rough time at the moment, Oscar is back in hospital due to an infection and a nasty virus. Being immunocompromised isn't easy as he has found out over the last 14 months. We have been in for a few days now and he has needed oxygen to help with his breathing. I'm just hoping and praying it's not long until he's back outside helping me again soon.

Once we are back out we will be back down at our allotment, harvesting and filling the gaps with things that grow quickly. Things that are perfect to do this are spring onions, beetroot, radish or even lettuce. We hate to see empty beds so we always try to do this when we can.

How are your tomatoes growing this year? Are yours not doing as well as you would have liked?

Let me know over on Instagram @a_life_in_the_garden