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Last year I sowed all my seeds in the first week of January, eager to get my brand new garden off to a flying start. Everything was sown at once - from Eryngium leavenworthii to tomato 'Gardener's Delight' and my front room looked like a badly run

tomatoes now feel icy to the touch when picked, but the plants are soldiering on. In previous years I have laid down my remaining outdoor tomato plants on a bed of straw, and covered them with a long cloche or a few layers of fleece. I like to ensure

Sow seeds of greenhouse crops, such as tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, chillis, aubergines and okra

eatenSow seeds of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and other greenhouse crops in a heated propagatorPot up begonias individually once new leaves have developedTake cuttings from houseplants including African violetsContinue sowing seeds of summer bedding

Use twigs pushed into the ground to support tall-growing peas, or use short canes and stringFeed strawberries with a high potash feed, such as tomato fertiliserSow flowering companions in your veg plot, such as tagetes and poached egg plants

Fit automatic openers to greenhouse vents to encourage good air circulationPlant tomatoes in growing bags or large pots, training them on to canes or wires for supportBring pots of strawberries into the greenhouse to produce early flowers and fruit

Plant tagetes with your tomatoes, to act as companion flowers which deter pests Scoop out floating pond weed and algae from poolsHoe bare soil and hand weed beds weekly to prevent weeds from establishing and setting seedPut soft tops on the tips

Sow seeds of dwarf beans in rows and climbing ones alongside canesPlant out crops being raised in pots under glass, such as marrows, courgettes and tomatoesCover soft fruits with netting to prevent birds eating themSow a few seeds of salad leaves

greenhouse tomatoes to deter whiteflySet up a 'watering bench' using capillary matting to look after pot plantsSow seeds of Christmas cherry (solanum) to grow as winter pot plantsHang yellow sticky traps in the greenhouse to help control whitefly Thin out

Hang old CDs among crops and from fruit trees to scare away birdsWater beans and sweet peas as they start to flowerGive extra water to ripening soft fruits such as raspberries, gooseberries, strawberries and currantsFeed tomatoes and crops