Top grow your own veg for March

There are hundreds of different varieties, sizes and colours so you won’t be spoilt for choice. This is a classic, reliable and tasty large cherry tomato that can be grown under cover or outside. If you can keep it in a frost-free place it’s possible to be picking tomatoes all the way to November.

Another good thing about this variety is that all the fruit ripen on the vine at the same time, so you cut the stem and put the whole lot in the oven for roasting. Sow seeds this month inside or under cover in seed trays. Once they’ve germinated and grown their first set of true leaves, prick the individual plants out into small pots or modules.

Then, pot them up into larger size pots once their roots fill the existing pot. However, don’t be tempted to plant them outside until all risk of frost has passed. For best results water regularly and feed with high potassium fertiliser weekly once the plant starts to flower.

Chillies need a long growing season so best to sow these seeds as soon as you can. This variety produces chillies that are mild – hot in flavour. The fruit change colour from green to orange to red becoming progressively hotter as the colour changes. It’s a great variety to grow for beginners because it quickly produces large numbers of chillies.

Pot on when the seeds have germinated but don’t plant outside until all danger of frost has passed, and flowers have appeared on the plants. They are best grown in a green house or under cover.

There’s nothing more satisfying than picking sprouts fresh for cooking on Christmas Day and this very hardy variety produces really tasty firm sprouts. Seeds can be sown from now until April.

It’s best to sow two seeds 1cm deep per pot and remove the weaker seedling once they’ve germinated. Then plant outside between May and July. When planted outside, mulch the soil around the plants to help retain moisture.

This lovely, tasty variety produces large heads of lettuce with bronze colour outer leaves. Seeds can be sown from February all the way through to end of October, making it possible to pick lettuce almost all year.

Be careful though, as lettuce seeds will not germinate if the weather or environment is too hot, but they do appreciate being given plenty of water.

Radishes are a fantastic veg to grow for beginners and children as they are quick and easy. They can be ready to pull out of the ground just 4-6 weeks from sowing the seed.

This variety produces crunchy, purple-pink skinned, white fleshed radish.

Next is a very reliable, sweet tasting variety which doesn’t bolt which means you can sow seeds from now until late in the growing season. For best results, sow a few seeds regularly every 3-4 weeks from the end of this month until July in rows leaving 30cm gaps between the rows.

Then, thin seedlings to leave a 5cm gap between plants. When thinning, the leaves of thinned seedlings can be used in salads. Crops generally ready to harvest 8-10 weeks after sowing.

This is a great variety to grow at this time of year because it’s early to mature as well as being one of the most resistant to carrot root fly. It produces long, cylindrical deep orange colour carrots with a lovely, sweet flavour.

All carrots benefit from being sown into warm soil, so warm it up first by putting sheets of plastic on it for about 7 days before sowing. Also, at this time of the year, cover newly sown seeds with an outdoor cloche.

Kale is a ‘superfood veg’ packed full of vitamins and this variety is particularly versatile as it can not only be boiled but also makes great Chinese ’seaweed’ when fried. You could also plant it amongst your flowers for an edible addition to your ornamental border.

When sowing seeds this month, start them off under cover, ideally in modules to minimise root disturbance when planting outside.

Leeks are great in both soup and stews. This is a reliable, easy to grow variety producing tasty, whopping great leeks with good disease resistance.

At this time of the year seeds are best sown under cover into modules and planted outside when they reach around 15cm tall.

A quick growing variety which is also a great source of vitamin C. Also, it’s a great crop to grow in patio pots if space is limited. Sow thinly into pre-watered soil and you should start to see seedlings appear within 21 days.

Just remember to keep well-watered in dry spells but don’t overwater as they’ll rot in waterlogged soil. Successionally sow seeds every two weeks to give you a regular summer supply.