MIND THE GAP

Garden Organic's Anton Rosenfeld shows you how to plug the 'hungry gap' in spring and have ready supplies of home-grown food all year round

Those starting out in growing might assume there's little home-grown produce available over winter. But if you're organised, maintaining a supply of food over this period isn't a problem. Leeks, kales, cabbages, chard, over-winter salads and stored produce such as potatoes, squashes and carrots all contribute to a reasonable supply.

In fact, it's the months of April, May and June when there's the least produce available from your garden - and this time of year has been coined the 'hungry gap'. During this period, the winter crops have stopped producing, started to bolt or given up, but the spring crops are not yet ready.

However, with a bit of adjustment and some organic growing techniques, it's still possible to be eating things you've grown yourself.

PROTECT YOUR PLANTS

Growing under protection is a great way of extending the season. Many people associate tunnels and glasshouses with growing summer crops such as tomatoes and cucumbers, but they are incredibly useful over winter too.

Tunnels and cloches do two things. Firstly, they will spare crops from a light frost (they won't protect from a heavy one) and this allows salads such as lettuce, rocket and mustard to be grown more reliably throughout the winter.

Secondly, they warm up the soil and air during the day so crops will grow much more quickly.

In combination, this means all sorts of crops can be given a head start outside. Carrots can be started in February, as can early potatoes so you have supplies during May and June.

GROW PERENNIALS