Gardenworld

Harvesting fresh vegetables straight from the garden is one of the highlights of summer, and you don't need a huge vegetable patch to do it.

Patio vegetable garden Many vegetable varieties grow quite happily in pots, sometimes producing better crops than plants in the ground. A pot of veg on a patio, for example, is less susceptible to slugs, but if they do attack the slugs are easier to find and remove. And although there is less space and smaller harvests, a pot can be situated right outside the kitchen door, making picking to cook incredibly convenient. Vegetables can be attractive plants: lettuce leaves can vary in shade from green to purple; and trusses of cherry tomatoes are shapley and bright. Marigolds will add colour and attract pest predators, such as hoverflies, which are drawn to the flowers and then hunt over the vegetables picking off aphids.

Pick the beans and tomatoes regularly to encourage more to form, and harvest the lettuce by pulling it gently from the compost, making space for other plants to grow. Keep well watered throughout the summer.

You will need....

Large pot or half-herb

3x 1.5m straight pencil-thin twigs,

Raffia or string,

Work bench,

John Innes No3 and multi-purpose compost,

Climbing French beans,

Tumbler tomatoes,

Loose-leaf lettuce,

Basil,

Marigolds,

Strawberries or ruby chard

Instructions:

Patio vegetable garden: Step one Patio vegetable garden: Step two

Step one:
Place the pot in a sunny position and cover the drainage holes with a layer of stones. Fill with John Innes and multi-purpose compost, mixing them together as you go. The John Innes gives the mix body - holding extra water and nutrients - and the multi-purpose gives it bulk. Step two:
Push the twigs right into the compost in a triangle arrangement and tie the tops together with raffia or string. Step three:
Plant a climbing French bean at the base of each twig, leaning the top towards the twig to encourage it to climb.

Patio vegetable garden: Step fout

Step four:
Edge around the beans with the chard, lettuce, strawberries, basil and tomatoes. Step five:
Plant marigolds for colour in the middle and water the plants to wash the compost in among their roots. After three to four weeks, feed once a fortnight with a diluted liquid fertilizer.