Much-loved crop needs to be sown in October to get bumper crop as early as possible next year

A that can make or break most dishes has to be sown this month for the best chance of getting a bumber crop come spring.

Whether it's making a pizza sauce come to life, being chucked into a curry spice mix, or merging with butter to be slathered on bread, the is arguably one of the chef's most important vegetables. Known for its knock out flavour and versatility, the humble clove has also been used for millenia for medicinal purposes. It's often touted as a dietary supplement for heart-related conditions, including high and blood cholesterol, and is even said to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

With its countless benefits, and incredible flavour, it's worth having a year-round supply which you can simply fetch from the garden. And luckily, October is a great time to plant the bulb so you don't have to wait. When planted in autumn, the cloves will grow roots before winter, meaning they'll be ready more quickly than spring-sown garlic. As temperatures rise after winter, the cloves will start growing again and be ready for cropping by early summer.

Garlic comes in five different types - hardnecks, softnecks, wild garlic, elephant garlic and rocamboles - with each of them having their own unique flavour. Choose a wide variety of hard and softnecks for your garden and plant them in multi-celled trays or small pots.

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Cauliflower is another of the nation's most-loved vegetables, and whether it comes chopped up in curry or smothered in golden and gooey cheddar, it's sure to help keep our tummies full and warmed through the winter months. The white tree-shaped vegetable is usually harvested in the autumn, but some cultivars can be sown in October for an early-summer crop. Then by spring, they're ready to plant for their harvest in the hotter months. You should sow them in multi-celled trays and spread them out so there's one seedling in each compartment. This should all be done under the cover of a greenhouse or cold frame.

There are a number of other hardy vegetables that will use the chillier to their advantage. Just like cauliflower, there are several hardy pea cultivars, including "Avola" and "Meteor", which will need to be planted in October so they can be harvested in spring. Make 5cm-deep holes in the soil to plant the pea seeds. You can also use guttering or root trainers.

If you get your skates on, planting one type of vegetable now will see you getting a small harvest before the winter is out. Different kinds of salad leaves are an incredibly simple crop to grow. Planting them in October will give you some return before the chilier months are done, and then the plants will become dormant and restart growth again in March, which is when you'll have a bumper crop of fresh salad leaves. These plants should be sown in well-prepared soil or in pots. To protect them from the worst of the cold weather, cover with a cloche or even pop them in the greenhouse.

It comes after a expert and content creator Pollyanna Wilkinson - who uses the handle @pollywilkinsongarden on TikTok, and boasts over 180,000 followers - listed three things gardeners need to consider this month to avoid problems next year. She said that to start off with you should focus on some much-needed lawn care if you're lucky enough to have a patch of turf.

Polly went on to explain that "scarifying is scraping the surface of the lawn to remove thatch and moss, you can do this with a rake or you can use a machine." However, don't throw the moss you collect away, the expert warns, "Be sure to hold onto some of that moss that you gather, you can use it to top pots of bulbs in the festive season."

The expert explains, "Now is a great time to aerate and scarify your lawn. What does that mean? Aerating literally means just putting air into the lawn. You do that by stabbing holes in it." Polly adds there are a couple of ways you can approach this, first off by simply grabbing your garden fork and making holes throughout the turf. Another way is by wearing "jazzy aeration sandals, which have spikes on the bottom, or you can hire a machine."

Once the aerating and scarifying are done, Polly advises you to sow some lawn seed onto your turf, and "gather up any leaves on the lawn, put them into a jute bag or bin liner with holes in and put it somewhere you can forget about it." This one will take some patience, but it is well worth the payoff, "In two years, you're going to have amazing leaf mould for the borders," which will be a powerful fertiliser and soil conditioner.

The second task you should be aiming to tackle this October is planting bulbs indoors that will be perfect during the period - amaryllis, a popular gift during the festive season with stunning red blooms, and paperwhites. "I would usually plant a few now, a few in a couple of weeks, and again in a couple of weeks more, just to make sure you get a succession of indoor plants throughout December and January." Finally, the expert recommends that you move any evergreen shrubs in your garden this October. Polly explains this month is the "perfect" opportunity for this because "the soil is still warm and moist".