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Not everything in my garden is carefully planned, and I make no excuses for having it this way. It's a wise gardener that makes room for the unexpected, and the rewards this can bring. Leave an area of soil bare and something will grow, and while

I hope I’m not getting impatient in my advancing years. When the latest seed catalogues arrived I was determined to find out which were the quickest-growing salad crops.Gardening isn’t the best pursuit for anyone seeking instant gratification, and I

. Some crops are deliberately left to bolt, developing flower stems and running to seed (which I collect). Mizuna, watercress and rocket have already set seed, and lettuces are starting to extend – forcing flower heads upwards.Choosing lettuces and salads

like rocket, watercress, and a range of warming mustard leaves. Baby spinach leaves provide more texture and flavour than lettuce too.Growing young salad leaves doesn't take much space and they're quick, only taking about a month from sowing to your

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

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

themselves.When Kevin Smith asked our theatre audiences at Gardeners' World Live whether they used edible flowers in their cooking, very few people responded. What a missed opportunity.The flowers of chives and many herbs are edible, including rocket

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