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There's a lot more to a great salad than lettuce. Apart from a nice assortment of colourful leaves and a slight crunch if they're fresh, I'm not convinced that lettuce adds much more to salad than bulk!I prefer to grow salad leaves with real flavour

a plate offering more than green leaves, so a mix of colourful lettuce, red-veined beetroot, thinly sliced circles of white radish, red tomatoes and diced yellow peppers really hits the spot. You can really let your creative, artistic side take over

When growing edible crops, it is essential to use your plot efficiently, especially if space is limited. It’s no good growing an unusual variety with a tiny yield if it takes up space that could be used for a more productive crop – particularly

fruits.Both greenhouse and garden are developing well, proving yet again just how much fresh produce can be grown in our gardens. And that's the aim of our Grow Yourself Healthy campaign, to show people how a little planning can turn their gardens

, coriander, mint, thyme and rosemary.Then there are nasturtiums - vibrant, colourful blooms produced in profusion by these easy-to-grow hardy annuals. They have a warming, peppery flavour, not unlike watercress. Which is hardly surprising when you realise

. 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

Things really move up a gear in May when you're growing your own. With a greenhouse bulging at the seams, I can't wait for the risk of frosty nights to pass so I can plant them outside.Tomatoes, courgettes, sweetcorn and other tender crops

refuse to cross.Copper rings were placed round the base of  'at risk' perennials and hostas in borders early in the year. These rings push down into the soil, then sit proud to form a barrier. At first they stick out like a sore thumb, but as plants grow