Vegetables

Raising plants from seed is costeffective and gives greater choices than buying plants from garden centres.

Planting is usually done at twice the depth of the seed, but during dry weather it should be a little deeper.

Watering the rows thoroughly before sowing will help germination and then, when seedlings appear, gentle watering will get plants growing steadily.

Intercropping — using an area for more than one crop — is a good way of making the maximum use of a small space. Lettuces may be grown along a line intended for outdoor tomatoes, which usually are planted between Labour Day and the middle of November. Lettuces are cut before the tomato foliage is big enough to bother them.

Parsley can provide a successional crop if sown in small amounts. Choose an open situation in soil that does not dry out. Add organic manures if these are lacking.

Potato plants can be banked up with soil before the leaves develop too much. Once that happens, building banks is difficult without damaging the plants.

Early peas or potatoes may be intercropped with any of the brassicas used for winter greens. Between the rows of late dwarf peas or beans, sow spinach, turnips and radish.

Radish is a quickmaturing plant that can tolerate some shade in the summer. Keep all plants clear of weeds.

Peas making good growth can be helped with staked netting or wired brush placed by the rows for the plants to climb up. Cauliflower, cabbage and lettuce plants in the garden will benefit from regular waterings of liquid manure. If the soil is a clay type, a side dressing of sulphate of ammonia or urea (50g for 10 plants) will be helpful. Do not let the fertiliser touch the leaves or stems, but fork lightly into the soil.

Parsnips, which have a long growing season, need to be sown now. Shorter rooted varieties, such as Avon resister, should be chosen for shallow or clay soils.