In the foreground, old secondary double glazing is laid on a bed to warm the soil ready for a speculative sowing of salads.

Behind that is a protected early sowing of Crimson-Flowered Broad Beans. Hard frosts were forecast so I used whatever I had to hand to add some protection. A single layer of new fleece would probably be as effective.

I’ve put homemade compost on some of the beds. That’s why they differ in colour.

After a warmer & wetter weather forecast, I removed the protection from the broad beans. The old canes laid diagonally tell me that seed has been sown. Thus I will not absent-mindedly hoe the bed and destroy the crop just as it germinates.

I also had a look under the warming glass. I found that some weeds have germinated, which indicates that the soil is warm enough to make small early sowings of radish and lettuce. Even better, there are some seedlings that might be self-set lettuce, so I will leave them and sow fresh seed in the gaps.

This bed is marked with two parallel lines in preparation for sowing onion sets. I use nylon builder’s line stretched between strong metal stakes to get straight rows.

FAQ: Why sow in boring straight lines? You could grow in pretty circles instead!

A: I plan to use a hoe to control the inevitable weeds, and hoeing is easiest along a straight line. If weeds grow unchecked the crop will get smothered and fail. This is true of almost every annual vegetable, and especially of onions.

Sow your veg seeds in a mandala pattern or inspirational spiral if you want — you can hand-weed this effectively on a small scale. But whatever scale you grow at, you should have a realistic plan for weed control!

The fine mesh was added last week to protect my leeks from Allium Leaf Miner. This fly can be on the wing mating and seeking laying sites throughout March & April. The hungry larvae cause serious damage to onions & leeks. There is a second brood in autumn so crops also need protection then. At other times you want to leave the mesh off to allow more light in, and easier access for weeding and harvesting.

In the foreground are my last parsnips which will need digging up in the next couple of weeks. You can see that they are already growing new leaves. This is the start of the flowering process when the roots lose food value. Get them out and eat them!