Grow a tasty salad treat in the garden

Spicy rocket leaves are a tasty and trendy addition to salad dishes and gardeners can grow the vegetable fairly quickly and easily in the UK.

It takes just ten minutes to sow rocket seeds and the best time to start doing so is right now in March.

According to the BBC Gardens World website, nipping off the leaves on a regular basis and continuing to sow throughout spring and summer will ensure a good supply is maintained.

The hardy crop can even survive into late autumn with the help of some insulation from horticultural fleece or a greenhouse.

"Flea beetle can be a problem in summer, nibbling holes in rocket leaves," advises Gardeners World editor Adam Pasco.

"The best defence is to cover the row with a length of horticultural fleece or a fleece-covered mini tunnel."

Sowing should be done in rows to help establish which seedlings belong to rocket and which are weeds and a row of around one to two metres should suffice to begin with.

Cover the seeds with a small amount of light soil and remove any weeds and stones from the area to help the plants establish themselves.

Rocket is also known as Eruca sativa or arugula and is native to the Mediterranean.