Homes and gardens spring special: summer of salads - in pictures

Buy a few packets of seed – lettuce, radish, rocket and peas, say – and for the price of a couple of bagged supermarket salads, you have seeds enough for a whole season of homegrown salads. Photograph: Sophia Evans

Aim for an endless procession of lettuce leaf pickings, rather than a glut. Photograph: Sophia Evans

All of the seeds will germinate outside without heat in spring, but wet, cold soil slows things down. Put your bare hands on the earth: if after a few minutes they are too cold to leave them there, don’t sow. You can warm the soil with a covering of plastic (clear or black). The more space you give each individual plant, the more its root can grow, which is key to regenerating new leaves. Photograph: Sophia Evans

Anyone with a window can grow pea shoots. Photograph: Sophia Evans

Pea seeds need to be sown at a depth of around 2cm. They can be crammed into a pot, with roughly a few centimetres between seeds. Photograph: Sophia Evans

If space is limited, sow half of a pot, wait for seedlings to appear, then sow the other half. Cut pea shoots when they are around 5cm high - you want to harvest only the tender tips. Photograph: Sophia Evans

Sow little and often, and you will always have tender leaves to pick. Sow a pinch at a time, cover the seeds with a little soil or compost, and water in. If any seeds float, cover them up. Most of these seeds are small and don’t want to be buried deep, so just a sprinkling is needed. Photograph: Sophia Evans

When your first lot of seedlings are a few centimetres high, sow the next batch. If you want micro greens, sow liberally across your space and don’t thin. You may get two or three cuts of tender salads when they are 5-10cm high. After the third cut, they will become very tough. Photograph: Sophia Evans

If you can lay claim to some outside space, you can make a success of rocket, too (if it bolts, don’t worry: the flowers taste lovely). Photograph: Sophia Evans

In the ground, sow in straight lines, in a block or make a wide drill; in pots, scatter seed across the surface of the soil. Photograph: Sophia Evans

Thin in stages until you reach the right spacing, eating the thinnings as you go. Radish seedlings should be thinned to between 2cm and 5cm apart. Photograph: Sophia Evans

Radishes are best harvested small and crisp, say 2-3cm maximum. Photograph: Sophia Evans

When the leaves are young and tender, dress them with a subtle vinaigrette of three parts olive oil, one part fresh lemon juice and one teaspoon of sea salt flakes. Find out more about Alys Fowler's summer of salads challenge and order your free seeds and dibber. Alys will be live online on Wednesday April 23 from 12.30pm to 1.30pm BST to answer your salad growing questions - please post your queries now. Photograph: Sophia Evans