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with developing fruit for nutrients Earth up soil around emerging potato shoots, which encourages higher yieldsSow seeds of the following crops outside this week: radish, spring onions, coriander, parsley and chives

bushes and treesDig up and pot up roots of mint to force early shootsBuy shallots, onion sets and seed potatoes

Cover soil with cloches to warm it for early sowingsFinish winter pruning fruit trees and soft fruitsCut stems of autumn-fruiting raspberries to soil levelChit seed potatoes, standing them in trays in a light but frost-free positionPlant Jerusalem

Cover rhubarb with an old bucket to exclude light and encourage early pickings of long tender stalksPrune gooseberry bushes to open up the centre of the bush to improve air circulationChit seed potatoes in trays in a bright, frost-free position

to come.I do an awful lot of shopping by mail order, not because I don't like my local garden centre (on the contrary - it's fab) but because it's fun flicking through all the catalogues, working out just how many varieties of salad potato we can

I've had some cracking crops this year. Some are tried and tested varieties that I know are good and reliable, while some vegetable varieties are completely new to me.I've grown quite a few potatoes, my favourite variety, ‘Charlotte’, has performed

. This sensational pot also has a knockout fragrance from the blue potato bush and the angels' trumpets.March - April June - August40 minutesAngels' trumpets, BrugmansiaBlue potato bush, Solanum rantonnetii 'Royal Robe'Purple heart, Tradescantia pallida 'Purpurea

Cover rows of strawberries with cloches to encourage early fruitingPlant early potatoes outside in rows, or in large pots of compostSpray fruit trees and bushes with fungicide to prevent powdery mildew disease attacking themPick off faded

of polythene for early sowingsPlant out maincrop potatoesPlant asparagus crownsSow the following crops this week if conditions are suitable: beetroot, parsnips, turnips, onions, peas and mangetout, broad beans, lettuce and salad leaves, spinach, radish, rocket

, to attract beneficial insectsThin out seedlings from earlier sowingsEarth-up potatoes by pulling soil up around their stemsBuy pheromone traps to hang in apple and plum trees to control pestsSow seeds of the following crops this week if conditions are fine