Use DIY cloches for late sowing.

April days can still be fairly balmy, but the mercury plunges when the sun goes down and cool nights quickly rob your soil of its lingering warmth. To extend your direct-sowing season, cover your seed trenches with a simple cloche made from bent wire hoops under clear polythene. Peg down the sides and ensure the ends are firmly tied in too. Use cloches to start hardy salad crops including red lettuces, perennial rocket (arugula), corn salad and miner’s lettuce. Lynda Hallinan