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by making successive sowings throughout spring and summer. As autumn approaches, cover crops with sheets of horticultural fleece to keep the cold at bay, and you could be cropping right through to first frosts.Rocket seedLine for sowingHoe or trowel

Parsnips need a really long growing season but they're well worth the wait. Sow seeds early in the year and look forward to parsnips roasted for the Christmas table, or in warming winter soups.Parsnip seeds e.g. 'Gladiator F1'Trowel or draw hoe

Chilli plants will thrive on a sunny window sill or in a greenhouse. They have a long cropping season, so you could still be harvesting fresh chillies in December. You will need just two small pots to sow your chilli seeds; use a good quality seed

cover-ups for sunny fences and trellises, but they make excellent pot plants for large containers.Annual climber seedGlass bowls for soaking seedSeed labels10cm potsLarger pots for potting onSeed-sowing compostHeated propagatorTwigs for supportspring30

Home-grown leeks are far superior to those bought in shops. They are very easy to grow from seed, and if you sow at intervals from February to June you can harvest from late August, through winter until the following February.Like most other

Plenty of salad crops can grow outside in winter, if given a little protection. In early autumn, the soil is still warm enough to sow seeds direct, while plug plants or seedlings planted out will establish quickly.Choose hardy varieties of your

and bears a resemblance to tadpoles.They are easy to grow, preferably sown fresh and pricked out individually next spring. With a bit of luck they should come to flower the following season.Agapanthus plantsSeed traysSeed-sowing compostSharp horticultural

Save money by collecting and storing seed of your favourite hardy annuals, to sow next year. Saving seed from pot marigold, Calendula officinalis, couldn't be easier. Ensure you allow the seedheads to fully develop on the plant before collecting

Find out how to grow salad leaves from seed in a container, in Monty Don's step-by-step video guide, including tips on compost and spacing.springMore on raising crops from seedRead Pippa Greenwood's blog on growing salad leavesGrow salad leaves from

Good quality seed compostSmall 7.5cm pots x2ClingfilmMarch - Juneten minutes to sow the seedsMay - SeptemberFill each pot with compost, water it with tap water and leave to drain. Don't use rainwater from a butt as it may contain bacteria, which can cause