Nothing beats the taste of freshly grown fruit, vegetables and pot grown herbs grown in your own garden, or even on your windowsill. If you’re not sure where to start or what to grow, there’s some tips below to get you started

Tomatoes

Sown indoors in a heated propagator or on a sunny windowsill, tomatoes should germinate within two weeks. Sow Tomato seeds in pots of seed compost, or in trays, and place in a heated propagator or on a warm windowsill, keeping the compost moist.

Chillies

Chilli peppers can be started off from seed now, most seed will be viable so only grow what you need. Sow seeds at 18-21°C (65-70°F) and fill a 10cm (4in) pot with good quality seed compost, scrape off excess compost to leave a level surface, then sow a few seeds on top. If you plan on growing super hot chillies, they need a long summer to produce a good crop.

Giant Beetroot

Sow seeds at 18-21°C (65-70°F) and fill a 10cm (4in) pot with good quality seed compost. Beetroot seed need to be buried ¼ inch and covered with compost. Sow two seed per pot and nip off the least vigorous plant.

Giant Celery

Sow seeds at 18-21°C (65-70°F) and fill a 10cm (4in) pot with good quality seed compost. Broadcast the seed on the surface as celery seed will need light to germinate. They will take 2 weeks before you can visibly see growth.

Giant Cabbage

Sow seeds at 18-21°C (65-70°F) and fill a 10cm (4in) pot with good quality seed compost. As soon as the seedlings appear, take them from the propagator to reduce the risk of leggy plants. If they are leggy, bury to the cotyledon (seed leaf). Fresh seed should germinate in 3 to 5 days.

Potatoes

Source your potatoes and choose different types from First Early to Maincrop. The first early will be like a new potato

Place potatoes to chit in recycled egg boxes and leave is a frost free place.

Radish

Sow radish seeds in a tray on your windowsill and cover with compost. Once germinated, transplant into a large pot for fresh radish in 6 to 8 weeks. Enjoy that fresh crunch

Avoiding damping off

Low light levels and stuffy indoor can both encourage damping off – a fungal disease that sweeps through trays of seedlings. Prevent it by using fresh compost with perlite added, watering pots and trays from below and opening propagator vents during the day.