Kitchen garden

Outdoor sowings

Crops to sow outdoors or under cloches include broad beans, beetroots, Brussels sprouts, summer cabbages, leeks, lettuces, hardy peas and radishes.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes are one vegetable no garden should be without. Many varieties can be grown outside in summer, with some even thriving in patio pots or hanging baskets. The earliest crops will develop on plants grown under glass, ideally in a heated greenhouse, but an unheated one will do. Tomatoes are easy to grow from seed, so start sowing now to raise indoor varieties. Sow in a heated propagator to encourage quick germination or grow on a windowsill. To raise outdoor varieties, sow later in March, potting on as plants grow. Plant them out in early June. Sowings can be made in April, but plants will flower and fruit far later than those that were sown earlier.

Strawberries

Home-grown strawberries are a welcome summer treat and runners planted now should flower in order to fruit this year. Choose several different varieties to spread the harvest season from June until late summer. Rooted runners, sometimes called crowns, are best obtained from specialist fruit nurseries. Plants should be spaced 45cm (18in) apart in rows about 75cm (2.5ft) apart. When working out how much space you will need, remember that you'll need enough room to get between rows for picking. You can plant through a layer of black polythene to control weeds, but this looks rather unsightly. Covering plants with cloches will encourage earlier flowering, but do open cloches during the day to allow insects to pollinate the flowers.

Seed potatoes

Set out seed potatoes in trays and stand in a cool, bright position for shoots to form. Early varieties can be planted in March, but plant main-crop potatoes later in April.

Shallots

Plant shallot sets in March, spacing them at 15cm (6in) intervals in rows 30cm (12in) apart. When the conditions have warmed up in late March, onion sets can be planted out into a firm seedbed.