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Salads
Lettuce can be grown outdoors from early April onwards, once the soil has begun to warm up.
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 | To get a succession of salad leaves all summer long, you need to sow seeds at regular intervals of two to three weeks.
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 | Sow in rows, and once the seedlings are up, thin them out so that there’s 20cm to 30cm (8in to 12in) between each seedling – check the packet for details.
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 | There are many different types of lettuce, so you can try a whole range and plant half or whole rows. If you are sowing more than one row, space them 45cm (18in) apart.
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 | Lettuce are perfect ‘fillers’. You can sneak a row in between other crops, such as tomatoes, as long as they have enough light.
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Peas and beans
Sow bean seeds from mid-May onwards. With climbing beans put up the support first, either tee-pees or a cross caned row made from bamboo canes, or a bean net strung between poles.
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One particular problem can be mice stealing the seed, so cover the rows with a thick layer of holly leaves
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Once broad beans have set a good crop, pinch out the tips to deter blackfly.
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Sow pea seeds from April onward in rows at 5cm to 7cm (2in to 3in) spacing, so that the plants will be able to support one another. For a succession of peas, sow at two-week intervals.
To aid good pollination, grow sweet peas nearby to attract bees.
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