Stagger your harvests

Grow your own fever is sweeping the nation with many people up and down the country warming to the idea of subsistence gardening.

Unfortunately, not many non-gardeners know the first thing about it, but everyone must start somewhere.

One of the most important and useful ways to keep you motivated is having a near constant supply of produce to help remind you why you are doing it.

"Deciding what to grow is one of the best things about vegetable growing, but its important to choose carefully and not get too carried away," says the BBCs gardening website.

"Choose vegetables you really like and look out for interesting varieties that you can harvest progressively.

"This will ensure that you have a ready supply of delicious vegetables throughout the growing season."

An example would be growing potatoes, broccoli, lettuce and peas all at once as they should provide staggered harvests throughout the season.