TURN FRESH CHILLIES INTO new plants

If you like living dangerously, you can sow seeds from fully ripe fresh peppers, too.

Chillies and sweet peppers cross-pollinate enthusiastically, so seedlings are unlikely to be identical to the parent: you could get anything from a bland-but-edible fruit to the next new superhot.

Separate the seeds from the pith and sow a pinch into a 10cm pot of compost. Keep very warm (21 to 25C) and seedlings should appear within about three weeks.

Peppers need heat to fruit well, so keep them inside a greenhouse or conservatory.

WHAT NOT TO SPROUT Apple and lemon pips

germinate fairly easily, but lemons rarely fruit and seed-grown apples are almost always inedible.

Squash seeds (including courgettes and pumpkins) are invariably crosspollinated so you never know what you’ll get – and if you’re unlucky, the resulting fruits could be poisonous.