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Picking broad beans really is a family affair in the Pasco household. The fat, swollen pods are full of promise and we eagerly pop them open to release the harvest.Much to my wife's surprise, my two children really enjoyed their first taste of broad

is Bean. Perhaps no wonder it’s the top vegetable surname given how many different varieties of bean there are – broad, French, runner, soya, Fava, borlotto… I could go on, but really don’t think I should.For those eager to know, the top ten vegetable

. Others are collected and sown in pots in a more organised manner. Among the seeds I've saved this year are foxglove, hellebore, columbine, scabious, Jacob's ladder, snapdragon and calendula.Around my plot I leave lettuce, mizuna, watercress, broad beans

of salad leaves possible; lettuce, spinach, pak choi, mizuna, beetroot, watercress, parsley and chives, as well as tomatoes, beans, courgettes and new potatoes. Although I've tried growing them, I haven't had much success with either sweet potatoes or soya

rocket and claytonia, spinach beet, French and runner beans, and turnips.Alan Titchmarsh had some helpful advice in the February issue of Gardeners' World magazine, too, encouraging us all to grow more veg. His top four space-saving crops were spring

.Types to sow now include crimson clover, fenugreek, field lupins - even broad beans. They germinate and grow quickly and reduce weed growth. Flowering varieties even attract bees and beneficial insects.Nothing could be simpler, and the green manures help break

. Seedlings need watering, as do flowering broad beans and garlic.I'm anxious to get tender crops planted outside so that I can set-up an automatic watering system in the greenhouse for my tomatoes and cucumbers. Chillies, sweet peppers and aubergines grow

to dig up half my flower garden to accommodate them all!My personal nominations for the list include:1. Courgette 'Tromboncino'2. Dwarf French Bean 'Maxi'3. Mangetout 'Oregon Sugar Pod'4. Sweetcorn 'Rising Sun'5. Watercress 'Aqua'And if I had to pick just

. If it sits proud it easily dries out and restricts access for roots.Old card toilet roll tubes are my favourite. They're the perfect size for sowing peas, beans, sweetcorn and many other large crops. Being that little bit deeper than small flower pots

tray to keep moist. Within weeks beautiful well-rooted plants had developed, ready for planting directly outside without risk of disturbing the rootball.Following this success I've tried growing other crops in newspaper pots, including beans