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herbs to bring into a porch or grow on the window sillSow broad beans and hardy peas for early crops next yearCheck pears regularly to harvest when perfectly ripeVegetables to sow now include winter radishes, lettuce and salad leaves, spinach, spring

them tightly each eveningBring dormant cyclamen in pots back into growth by wateringClear out old crops and growing bags, adding material to the compost heapStop watering pots of begonia, gloxinia, achimene, gloriosa, eucomis and other summer bulbs

platter of sandwiches. We both agreed that we felt a craving for greenery at this time of year.It might be too cold to grow your own salad leaves in the garden right now, but I'm tucking into lettuce, baby spinach, rocket leaves and a whole lot more

done, I forked a barrow load into the now-empty greenhouse bed and began seed sowing. First, I direct-sowed lamb's lettuce, then sowed 'Arctic King', 'Winter Gem' and the greenhouse lettuce 'Rosetta', which I've not tried before, into modules.Next, I

Plant out lettuce There's no secret to growing salad crops - just keep planting a little and often and you'll guarantee yourself continuous fresh leaves to add crunch and flavour to your meals. Homegrown salads are tastier, too, than anything you

new canes about 15cm apartUse soapy sprays at the first signs of greenfly and blackflyThin out congested fruits on apples and plums - the remaining fruits will grow far larger if competition is reducedSow seeds now: lettuce, rocket, beetroot, dwarf

vegetables for beginnersBeetroot 'Boltardy'For an easy-to-grow, fresh salad, try growing cut-and-come-again salad leaves. Leafy greens and lettuces can be harvested for their young leaves instead of mature hearts. Because they are harvested when young

Shorten sideshoots growing from the framework of espalier, fan and cordon-trained fruit trees back to about five leaves from their basePick fresh herbs for dryingPick gooseberries, currants, strawberries and other fruits as they ripenSupport heavily

.Clean and sharpen knives and secateursPut up nesting boxes for birds on suitable treesMove shrubs growing in the wrong placeAround the gardenCut down willows and dogwoods to their baseFinish taking hardwood cuttingsPlant bare-root roses, hedging, trees and shrubs

something of a mollusc free-for-all at night. Then just pick them off the piles in the morning.You could grow a sacrificial offering, perhaps a tasty lettuce or two, in your borders, and ensure you regularly pick off the culprits.Encourage natural predators