Seed saving hints to help in the credit crunch — grow your own.

You can grow press at home very simply. It brightens up salads can go on sandwiches and is very cheap and easy. You can buy Crest seeds at some supermarkets and all you have to do is planted on wet kitchen roll or tissue. Keep it down and within a couple of days it will sprout and develop little green leaves. It’s at this point when you harvest it by cutting with scissors. It’s very quick and easy and can really brightened up a door sandwich. You can grow salad in the same sort of way and you pick them as micro-leaves.

You can grow salad in grow bags outside on your patio once spring arrives. It is easy and quick also. The biggest problem you will have is stopping slugs from eating it, but you can do this by keeping it off the ground.

If you have a window box you can grow herbs. In fact if you have a windowsill you can grow basil very easily. Basil was to be grown in pots. You can buy pots of basil in the vegetable section at the supermarket. These can be kept alive some time with careful watering and even repotting. Chives bought the same place can also be repotted. These can be put in the garden where they will grow for years and years. Fruit bushes and trees make a good investment although somewhat more long-term than growing herbs. Once trees start through they will continue to fruit for many years. You can grow many fruits in your own garden including apple, pear, plum and damsons.

If you don’t have room for fruit tree then consider the wild fruit that is freely available along prowls and very quiet roads. You can find blackberries in the autumn and these delicious fresh water jam. There are also rosehips that you can use to make a syrup. You may also be lucky and find a hazelnut tree in the wild.