If you are lucky enough to have a greenhouse, then February could prove to be a very busy time for you. I would love to have a heated one, but then we always want what we may not be able to have. I do have a greenhouse and consider myself very lucky as it means I can have an early crop of lettuce as well as radish by starting them off in it. This year I plan to have some rocket too.

I do have a heated propagator which is a new addition to my gardening toolbox and this is going to be a godsend because I want to grow aubergines this year. It will also come in handy for anyone who wants to grow peppers, this is not on my personal agenda, but if you do have a heated propagator, they are ideal for starting them off. Of course if you don't have one, then you can always use your windowsills, as long as they are in a sunny position and of course warmish.

A greenhouse is also the ideal place to start chitting your potatoes, and don't forget to save those valuable egg cartons as they are perfect for the job. I place mine under a bench in my greenhouse which keeps them out of direct sunlight and I do spray them with a seaweed solution from time to time. Although this has not made a vast difference to my potato crop, I do still do it out of routine I guess.

I discovered recently an article on 'growing your own sugar'. I like my sugar and have to admit to using rather too much. I was fascinated to discover that growing your own sugar did not entail planting vast amounts of sugar beet or sugar cane, but referred to a rather old garden herb known as Stevia. It is only just recently that this herb has been made available in the European Union as it has been the subject of rather a lot of debate but recently all this appears to have been resolved to a certain extent and it is now available throughout the UK. Suffice it to say that in Japan as well as Brazil, this sweet herb has been used in one form or another as an alternative to sugar for quite a while now.

The fact that it contains 'zero' calories does seem to make it an attractive option to regular sugar and if it means you can grow your own, then I for one will be trying to do this in my propagator this year. I have read that the seeds are quite difficult to get to germinate and many growers advise root division as being the best way to grow this herb. However, I am always up for a challenge, so I will be trying the seeds come February and if I have no luck I will buy an established little plant and then try the root division in the summer.

That's the real beauty of growing your own vegetables, herbs or fruit. If at first you don't succeed then there is always an alternative route to take, and please excuse the pun.

Have you discovered something new that you'd like to try to grow? If so I would really like to hear about it.

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