SUPER-sweet, small, tender, broad beans that only need a brief introduction to the steamer. Ahhh!

I make no apology for returning to one of my top four vegetables that grace the early summer table together with new potatoes fresh from the soil.

There are varieties that benefit from an autumn sowing and there are now those that can be planted in summer too to mature in autumn — so the season has been greatly extended.

But now is a good time to sow under cover, by far the best way of ensuring a crop. My frustrated allotment compatriot, James, bemoaned the fact all his beans planted straight in his plot had been munched by mice just as they sprouteD.

Planting under glass or on a windowsill will allow the plants to mature safely until the seeds are of no interest to voracious rodents.

He chose my favourite Optica, which as a white-flowered dwarf needs no support on all but the most exposed plots.

This year, for the second spring, I opted not for Optica but for Vectra, from Johnsons, which is — like its cousin — an early-cropping, small, white seeded, modern high-yielding variety.

Until next month Vectra can be sown in pots or seed trays (my favoured option) and transplanted outside next month. Those sown now should be ready early in June. For a crop succession plant some more in a month. That other pest — blackfly — can be deterred by pinching out the growing tips when the pods have formed.

Tackling thorny issue of brambles

HANDS up if you hate brambles (except in a jelly).

In my two-year effort to erect a barn next door to my little orchard, I took my eye off the spiky terrorists which have now lacerated my wrists in revenge at my efforts of control. If ever you have seen the stop-motion episode of The Life of Plants, in which brambles reach out to root and provide those irritating loop trip hazards, you will know how pernicious they are.

They propagate by “tip-rooting” which occurs when a new plant is started by the old cane that touches the ground and roots.

They then overwhelm everything even reaching for the sky clambering up the self-seeded ash saplings which also threatened to choke our entire acre.

Manual control by mowing with a shredder attachment, or digging up the roots, will work but it is obviously extremely laborious.

Brush-cutting or mowing will remove the stems and starve the roots and eliminate berry production stopping them spreading seed.

Burning the bramble patch each year will not kill the roots but it will reduce vigour and stop seed production, which takes a couple of years. Large bramble infestations can be treated with a wide-coverage foliar herbicide. These chemicals will kill the plants that touch the spray down to the roots but often a repeat spray is required.

Smaller infestations can be treated with glysophate herbicide from a spray bottle, wetting each cut cane. The health risks of glysophate have been well publicised, so wear gloves, trousers, a long-sleeve shirt and mask.

Remove and wash clothing aferwards.

Top tips

  • Sow tomatoes and peppers in a propagator and salad crops, broad beans and cauliflowers under cover.
  • Outside, peas, carrots, beetroot, summer and autumn cabbages, herbs, leeks, spinach, turnips and spring onions, Brussels sprouts and parsnips can be planted.
  • March is good for early potatoes, onions, garlic and shallots, asparagus and strawberries.
  • Plant summer-flowering bulbs.
  • Top-dress containers with fresh compost.
  • Mow the lawn later in the month when it has dried out. Turf can be rolled out for instant new lawns or to repair extensive damage.
  • Bare patches can be re-sown soon. It’s a great time for it when the ground is still moist and remember the seed only needs a gentle raking in. It needs light to germinate.
  • Hoe and mulch weeds to keep them under control early.
  • Prune climbing and bush roses.
  • March is the latest you should plant bare-root roses in well-drained soil enriched with plenty of well-rotted manure.