In a greenhouse or on a sunny window ledge you can sow herbs like basil, parsley and coriander in pots. Cover the pot in clingfilm and keep it near a radiator until the seed leaves appear, then move it somewhere cooler.

You can also plant courgettes, squash, pumpkin and cucumber seeds in small pots - a couple of seeds per pot. Why not plant French beans, runner beans or even sweetcorn into cardboard tubes of compost too?

If you have a polytunnel or greenhouse, now's the time to plant your tomatoes. In the ground or you raised beds

You can sow all this in April:

• Lettuce and salads
• Radishes
• Parsnips – you can grow a short-rooted variety for harvesting in the autumn
• Carrots - a short rooted variety will be ready in July
• Chitted main crop potatoes

• Sow dwarf French beans to crop in June
• Plant chitted new potatoes for a June crop
• Sow cut-and-come-again salad
• Sow radishes

Peas: for a summer crop, buy plants that are ready to put straight into your beds now. The plants in peat pots can go straight into the soil without having their roots ruffled!

Broad beans: if you want a crop before the summer holidays, you need to buy plants now. Sutton is a good variety to use in small spaces.

Potatoes: to get a September main crop of potatoes, buy seed potatoes now. If they’re not already chitted, put them in an egg box and leave them in a cool dark place to develop sprouts. Rub off most of the sprouts, then put them in a light place – you’ll be planting them in a few weeks.

• Start hoeing and weeding
• Get into the habit of watering!
• In late April, thin out the lettuce and radishes