Grow your own veg: first-time veg grower

Crop rotation
If you have space, crop rotation pays dividends. The idea is simple - if you grow the same crop year after year on the same plot, pests and diseases tend to build up. Also, different crops take out specific nutrients and minerals from the soil, so that they're unavailable for future crops.

Peas and beans (legumes) love rich soil and are happy in quite freshly mucked ground. By the time they've been harvested, nodules on the roots will have helped fix all-important nitrogen in the soil. The following year, plant brassicas in the bed, as these can make use of the fertility of the soil without it being over-rich for them.

In the third year, use the bed for root crops, as these hate freshly mucked ground. If you have room for four beds, then the next year plant green manure (such as grazing rye or phacelia - available in garden centres) or potatoes, salads and onions.

For the health and vigour of your crops, it pays to rotate. But don't be pedantic about it, simply adjust the principles to suit your own plot.

Problem solving
Neil and I garden organically. We've had few problems with pests and diseases, although some crops didn't perform as well as they might. Our garden is full of insect life - hoverflies abound and their larvae are partial to aphids. Birds eat caterpillars and so do wasps.

Wherever possible we 'companion plant', putting plants together that help each other thrive. So I put onions and chives next to carrots (the oniony smell helps prevent carrot flies homing in on the scent of the carrots), and to protect my broad beans and cabbages from greenfly I plant French marigolds, whose strong scent keeps aphids away from the veg. Despite that, we had major problems with carrot fly (next year I'm going to use a physical barrier) and cabbage-white caterpillars (which we had to pick off by hand).

When you're just beginning, success is all-important, so stick to easy crops that give rich rewards, such as runner beans, courgettes, potatoes, salads and onions from sets. Avoid trickier crops, such as Florence fennel or cauliflowers, until you're more experienced.

Where to grow

Enough space?
People often assume they don't have enough space for anything worth growing. But even a tiny patch, used imaginatively, can provide fresh vegetables all year. The best way to cultivate intensively is in raised beds, which can be made out of scaffolding boards.

The more limited your space, the more important it is to grow the vegetables you like best. So make a list of your favourites, then work out how they could grow together, and get sowing. In fact, you don't even need a garden - just a few pots.