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Why not try growing pulses indoors when the weather puts you off venturing outside? Mung beans and lentils are easy to sprout in jars and can be bought in most supermarkets and health shops.Mung beans, lentils or another type of sprouting beanJam jarWaterSieveKitchen towelall yea...

Sun-loving tomatoes can suffer outdoors during spells of cold weather, with ideal temperatures from 18-24˚C and no lower than 13˚C. If it is too cold there might be poor pollination, curling of leaves and the fruits might be scarred, with holes.Tomato leaves curl up, pollination ...

Fluctuating growth rates cause tomatoes to suddenly expand. This might happen after a period of drought followed by generous watering, or low temperatures followed by a sudden sunny spell. The split might then become infected, causing the tomatoes to rot.Tomatoes split open while...

Joe Swift demonstrates how to sow salad seedsAdvice on dealing with gluts of edible cropsJoe Swift's video guide to sowing tomato seedsBrowse a selection of vegetable plantsChoose lettuce varieties

Stringing onions is a great way of storing gluts, as you can keep a large number of bulbs in a small space. Hang them in a cool, dry, frost-free place - such as a shed - until you need to bring them into the kitchen. If you have room, grow more onions than you need and string the...

Potatoes will grow very quickly under warm and moist conditions. When they are 10cm tall, the leafy shoots can be mounded around with soil to their full height, a process known as 'earthing up'. Earthing up potatoes will increase the length of underground stems that will bear pot...

Monty Don takes you through the process of planting early potatoes with suggestions for soil conditioning and spacing.springMore advice on growing potatoesBlog on growing potatoesChitting potatoes video projectGrowing potatoes in a binGrowing potatoes in bagsEarthing up potatoes

Watch Sarah Raven's step-by-step video guide to growing salad leaves in guttering indoors, to give seedlings a good start before transplanting them outdoors.OctoberMore advice on growing saladRead Pippa Greenwood's blog on growing salad leavesVideo advice on growing salad leaves ...

Read Lila Das Gupta's blog on growing garlicHarvesting garlicGrowing onions and garlicPlanting shallots in a containerPlanting out leeksBrowse vegetable varietiesView a selection of herbs

Following my recent blog Top 10 plants for a dream garden, I’m expanding the wishlist to include fruit and veg. I think it’s good to have a goal, no matter how distant it may seem.I like to think that if I have a decent-sized garden, with room for a greenhouse and a cold frame, I...