CANCEL THE GYM AND TAKE UP GARDENING INSTEAD...

GROWING your own vegetables will not only reduce your grocery bills, but will reward you both physically and mentally. Guy Barter, of the RHS, says: ‘Cancel your gym membership and the money saved can be ploughed into gardening. You not only get a healthy workout, but you will also feel a lot better for working with nature. Planning what to grow is part of the fun.’

BARE-ROOT fruit plants – such as raspberries and blackberries – can be purchased in batches of half a dozen for as little as £10 online or from garden nurseries. They can be planted now.

Fledgling strawberry plants are available in bundles of a dozen for about £15. These can be planted between now and March and will harvest as early as June. With 1kg of raspberries, blackberries or strawberries costing as much as £10, you can enjoy a bumper summer harvest of fruit while freezing much of it to eat later on.

INVEST £20 in a heated propagator and you can start planting tomato seeds indoors as early as January. The seeds are tricked into growing early thanks to the warm soil and can then be transferred outside from March – though they often prefer life inside a greenhouse.

A single plant can yield ten kilos of fruit. So a £2 pack of seeds might produce half a dozen plants that together provide enough tomatoes for the entire summer, saving you as much as £240.

ONE of the best value vegetables is lettuce. You can purchase a packet of 800 seeds for £2 – giving you the luxury of being able to gamble on planting in March in the hope of early crop growth.

Onions, radishes and broad beans are other staples you can grow from £2 seed packs. Over a year they can reap vegetables that would cost hundreds of pounds at the supermarket.