HOWZAT

Make sure the pot drains properly by drilling extra holes if there is only one and putting a good 2-5cm (1-2in) layer of crocks or gravel in the base. Use polystyrene pieces if you have a window box as it makes it lighter to lift. Make sure the compost can retain moisture, as no containerised plant likes to dry out, and baked dry compost can be hard to rehydrate. I use a good-quality, general-purpose compost, mixing in some perlite (white mineral granules) to keep the mixture ³open² and light, and bagged loam from the garden centre.

Sprouting seeds

There's a lot more to sprouting seeds than mung-bean sprouts from the Chinese takeaway. You can produce shoots for salads, stir-fries or sandwiches within a day or two, and they take up no space.

Try green-lentil and pea shoots, which take two to four days to sprout and are full of vitamins. Aduki beans and radish shoots have a tangy flavour and take two to five days to grow, as do mung beans. Broccoli shoots can be grown like cress and are said to boost the body's natural defences against cancer.

Mine’s bigger than yours

It’s shovels at dawn at the village hall, as the vegetable showing season reaches its peak

BACKGROUND

• Vegging Out: how to start a vegetable patch

• Enjoying the fruits — and veg — of your labour

• Get plotting

• Your midsummer sowing guide

Related Internet Links

• How to start a vegetable garden

The vegetable patch

Have you grown a prize parsnip or a trophy tomato? Send us a picture - we'll showcase the best

BACKGROUND

• Growing kinds of chilli. . .

• Go ahead, pack it in

• Seeds of change

• Dolce vita on a plate

• Salad days that last forever

BACKGROUND

• Salad days that last forever

• Grow your own meals

• Dolce vita on a plate

• Go ahead, pack it in

• Seeds of change

It's simple to start your seeds off ­ soak for two to eight hours, depending on the size of the seed. Then place in a seed sprouter or sprouting jar, or a jam jar with a gauze cover, and leave. Rinse the seeds twice a day until they're ready to harvest to prevent any moulds setting in. For more tips read Oriental Vegetables by Joy Larkcom.

Sow now for next year

If you get the sowing bug, you can start planning for crops you can pick in the spring. Spring cabbages, red cabbages and kale can all be sown in cells or into the ground now to crop early next year. There's also time to get leeks in the ground, as long as you're happy to harvest at the ³baby² stage.

And you should be able to grab quick crops of beetroot, turnip and lettuce in no time. In late October or November, you can get broad beans underway for an early crop next spring, as well as planting garlic and onions and shallots to overwinter.

Where to buy

Thompson & Morgan, 01473 688821, www.thompson-morgan.com; Organic Gardening Catalogue, 0845 1301304, www.organiccatalogue.com; Sarah Raven's Kitchen & Garden, 0870 1913430, www.sarahraven.com; Kings Seeds, 01376 570000, www.kingsseeds.com.

Jane Moore is head gardener at the Bath Priory Hotel

Are you a beginner vegetable grower? Then read our ten-step guide at timesonline.co.uk/allotmentcentral

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