The final set of tips from #WoolliesAskAlison for anyone planning to grow vegetables for the first time next season:

So now you have a veg plot ready: here are some hints on what to grow & crucially how much to plant

1^st question to ask is not “what do I want to grow?” but “What do I want to eat?” & include something unusual

Plan to use space to best advantage eg early potatoes are good in bags freeing soil space for other crops

Check the avg yield of chosen veg & plant a sensible qty: you don’t need a whole row of everything

Runner beans can give 25kg from a 3m double row: that’s a lot of beans & 5x the yield of peas

Courgettes can give 15 fruits per plant over the summer & 3 plants is enough for most families

Plan to plant quick maturing crops like salad leaves & radishes several times at 2 wk intervals & pick young

It’s fun to grow veg you can’t easily buy: I grew Salsify from seed one year & it was easy & delicious

Consider some perennial veg as well as annuals eg asparagus & globe artichokes will crop for years

Have we convinced you to GYO next year? Nothing beats picking, washing, cooking & eating fresh veg ?