Growing your own fruit and vegetables is surprisingly easy whatever the size of your garden or allotment. You don't need to be entirely self-sufficient but there's nothing more satisfying than being able to harvest your own tomatoes, snip a few leaves from a salad bed or make strawberry jam from home-grown strawberries. And by planting some easy-to-grow flowering plants it's perfectly possible to have freshly picked cut flowers to decorate your table.

Accompanying the BBC Two series, The Big Allotment Challenge: The Patch celebrates our burgeoning interest in knowing where our food comes from and is a practical guide to making your garden a haven of productivity. With essential know-how on everything from soil and compost to pruning and pests, the book is aimed at novice gardens. There's an A-Z section on easy-to-grow vegetables, fruit, herbs and cut flowers; foolproof recipes for transforming your produce into delicious jams, jellies, chutneys and cordials; and stunningly simple flower arrangements.