They say that the best way to learn is to learn from your mistakes, this is true but if you can avoid some of the holes I fell down you will be off to a good start.

My vegetables are too close together

When you buy vegetable/fruit seeds they come in packets with guides to sowing, planting out, harvesting, watering etc. When you sow the seeds, follow the guidelines, if it says so thinly I would recommend following the suggestions. Some of my first seeds were lettuces and tomatoes. I found out that my sprinkling approach meant that I had young vegetables growing on top of the next one.

I had to wait until they were slightly established, lift/dig the plant out whilst avoiding damaging the delicate roots and replant them again.

I would suggest thinking about the size of the plant/vegetables you are growing and sow accordingly.

How do I handle weeds in my garden?

When growing vegetables or any plants in fact, it is inevitable that you will get weeds. Often when you dig in new manure or compost it will of course help the plant you are sowing but inevitably weeds will prosper too.

I would recommend identifying what your plant will look like when it is 3 or 4 weeks old, anything else in the same area is a weed and should be removed while it is still small. With vegetables this is often easier than with other plants because we tend to sow the same varieties of seed together in the same area of the garden.

If you wait and let the weeds establish, they will be harder to remove as the roots will be deeper. Also weeds may grow close to your vegetables and it can be hard to remove the weeds them without disturbing the vegetable plants.

How do I stop pests eating my young plants?

I have mainly a container garden as I do not have much space in my garden for growing in beds. I have noticed that if I sow directly into beds, the plants struggle to develop sometimes. This can be because pests can easily get at the young growth or because conditions are not 100% suitable for growing the variety being sown.

I would recommend that with a lot of plants you should start them off in starter pots. I have even found that sowing into regular containers works well and fewer pests get at the young growth. Peat pots can be bought fairly cheaply and if you sow your seeds in these they can be put into the ground once the plant has established.

Alternatively plastic pots are fine although you are more likely to disturb the roots when transplanting to the bed.

How do I avoid too many vegetables at harvest time?

This can sometimes be a nice situation but once you have given some to friends and neighbours there are some things that can not easily be saved. Lettuce is one of these; I recently sowed two different varieties of lettuce and it is likely that I will have lots more that I know what to do with.

All seed packets have sow by dates, I would recommend only sowing perhaps half of perishables like lettuce. The remaining seeds can often be saved for the following sowing season.

The alternative is successional sowing, meaning sow little and often. Every 10 to 14 days, sow a little more of the same seed. In this way your harvest will be spread out. Be careful about sowing past the last recommended sow date.

What size should my garden beds be?

A common mistake is making your bed to wide in an effort to save space. Unfortunately this makes it hard to maintain. You will need to be able to weed the bed frequently, closely monitor for bugs and diseases, water, feed and eventually harvest. Apart from not wanting to break your back trying to get to the plant in the middle of your bed, it can be easy to accidentally step on its neighboring plant.

I would suggest making your beds no wider than 4ft; you will then be able to access all part of the bed without too much difficulty.

How do I grow vegetables if I have a small garden?

If like me you have a small garden or have run out of space in your garden beds to grow vegetables, why not try growing in containers. The majority of the vegetables I grow are in containers. Container gardening does not require any special secret techniques, perhaps a little more watering and sometime slightly different sowing methods.

Pots or containers can be bought quite cheaply. We were able to buy some for 99p each at a local 99p store. You will be surprised how much can grow in just one container or pot. One of the major benefits of container gardening is the pots can be moved for example if there is a frost due, you can relocate to a cold frame or greenhouse with ease. Also they are easy to position in the right sunny or shady spot in your garden.

How do I identify what I have planted?

When you sow your seeds, I would recommend adding a label. You can buy cheap plastic or wooden blank labels, write on them with a permanent marker and place them in the ground for easy identification later.

I have made the mistake of putting two different seeds close together and using masking tape as temporary label. I then found afterwards that I could not remember what seeds were sown on each side. At harvest time it is often fairly easy to find out but sometimes varieties of the same type of vegetable are similar.

If you are sowing in the ground I would suggest placing a label at each end of the row or section of bed that you are sowing in, then when you come to harvest the neighboring plant, you know where you can safely dig.

When labeling I write the seed name/variety on one side and the date of sowing on the reverse side. This makes it easier to know when to expect to be able to harvest.