Start sowing in October

Cauliflowers

I’ve never had much luck with cauliflowers, to be honest: they tend to bolt on me, especially in hot summers. But I’ve had better success sowing in autumn, when it’s cool and damp. I sow into newspaper modules filled with home-made potting compost in the greenhouse, then move the young plants outside in spring for fat, creamy curds by early summer.

• How to grow cauliflower

Shallots

Shallots are brilliant value – each set you plant makes a cluster of up to five elegantly tapered bulbs with a mild, oniony flavour. The earlier you sow them, the bigger the bulbs, so I like to get some into the ground in autumn to overwinter as seedlings. Plant the sets straight into your autumn mulch so the tips are just at soil level, spacing them about 15cm apart.

• How to grow shallots

Greek basil

Greek basil is my favourite herb to grow as a houseplant as it forms a lovely neat hummock, and it puts up with low light levels so lasts longer into winter, too. You won’t get full-sized plants from seeds sown into pots on windowsills indoors now – but you will get scrummy microgreens to snip once the seedlings are about 5cm tall.

• Best basil varieties to grow

Sweet peas

I have sweet peas somewhere on my veg plot every year – they’re brilliant for attracting in pollinating insects to boost my harvests so I like to grow them on jute netting among the peas or trained up wigwams alongside climbing beans. I sow a batch in autumn to overwinter as seedlings, then a second batch in spring for a stream of scent and colour all summer long.

• 10 sweet peas to grow