So it’s raining now – but what a lovely weekend albeit a bit chilly – much more the kind of weather we expect in May – quite a few areas experienced a frost on Saturday night so still look out for any tender plants. I recently bought two trays of geraniums and to be sure of their survival I bring them in at night and put them out in a sheltered place every morning.

Last week we talked about growing cauliflowers but if these strike you as being a bit tricky why not start off with some kind of greens? There is quite a range to choose from including cabbage, broccoli, calebrase and Brussels sprouts. It really is true that ‘greens are good for you’ and they don’t come much greener than any members of the cabbage family.

The much maligned and humble cabbage is a good start. How much you like it seems to be a matter of age. Quite often appreciation of cabbage as a versatile and tasty vegetable seems to come with maturity. Hopefully things are different now but memories of overcooked, stringy cabbage still haunt me from school days. Fortunately I can now enjoy its many excellent qualities when lightly cooked so that some of the crispness is retained. Prepare the growing site by raking in some blood, fish and bone and plant the young cabbages deeply, so that the soil is about half way up the stem. Firm them in thoroughly and give a good watering. You will probably have to water them again later on but once they are well established they shouldn’t need too much attention. They will be all the better for another feed with blood, fish and bone after about six weeks.

Unfortunately there isn’t too much you can do about most minor problems and will have to accept that some aphids and downy mildew are a fact of life. Also, much as we love butterflies the sight of lots of them near the cabbage patch is not good news. This seems to be a greater problem some years more than others and draping some sort of lightweight netting over the crop can help. Cabbage root fly can be avoided by fitting proprietary mats round each young plant, tedious I know but why risk all your hard work? This needs to be done early to prevent the female laying her eggs.

One more thing to remember is the importance of crop rotation in the vegetable garden to keep your plot as disease free as possible.

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