Gardening: We’ll soon be eating fruit pies, crumbles and salads

Gooseberries are among the first summer fruits to ripen, so pies, crumbles and fools will be on the menu any day now.

The berries grow on wood that is at least a year old and crops should be thinned out to provide more space for those that remain to ripen. But don’t discard the thinnings as these can be cooked for an early taste of summer.

Keep the plants well-watered, especially during dry periods, and in the autumn you can take cuttings in order to make more of them.

Gooseberries are quite large plants, but they can be trained to grow along wires, on a fence or along a wall if space is short.

When left as bushes they can be easily pruned in autumn by reducing all shoots to just five leaves, but if you are training them then you will need to do some additional pruning this month in order to keep them under control.

If you haven’t already sown runner or climbing beans under glass, then sow them outdoors now where they are to grow.

Once they start growing, encourage them to twine on supports. They’ll shoot up pretty fast and will need lots of water as they grow.

Chard and beetroot can also be sown direct and, like all other vegetables, keeping them free of weeds is essential if you want good growth.

Make sure that the blade of your hoe is sharp then run it through the surface of the soil between the rows, cutting off annual weeds before they have a chance to develop.

If you don’t have a greenhouse then you may have given up hope of growing your own tomatoes, but some of the cherry tomatoes can ripen outdoors if they have a sunny spot. Grow them in large pots or in hanging baskets, feeding and watering regularly.

Herbs of all kinds are growing well now and parsley, coriander and basil will all add zing to summer salads.

It’s not too late to sow these and other herbs. Most like well-drained soil and full sun, although parsley can take some shade and mint grows much better in a damp corner.

One salad ingredient that is more often found in the flower garden is the nasturtium, but its bright flowers can be popped into summer drinks and its leaves have a delicious, peppery flavour and now matter how many you pick, lots more will grow.