Our new gardening section is proving to be very popular – thank you to all of you who have been posting up interesting articles and photos for your gardens from all over the world. We are pleased to announce that in a few weeks time we will have Robin McAfee on the site to answer your gardening questions. Robin is a London based gardener and he has loads of experience with growing your own herbs and vegetables. Robin will regularly answer a selection of gardening questions posted on the site – you can post your own question here. We’d love to build up a bank of questions, so that Robin can get an idea of what challenges are most common to our site members. He’s really excited about helping all the fledgling gardeners out there, so please do come forward with your questions.
Here is some more information on Robin:

How long have you been into gardening?
I’ve been gardening since I was about seven. I was lucky to catch the bug young.

How did you get started?
I grew up in an extended family with my grandparents in West Sussex. My Granny was a keen if erratic amateur gardener and she gave me and my baby sister a patch of ground each. It was about 2 foot by 4 and I was immediately hooked. My first plant was a Rosa ‘Little White Pet’ which I tended lovingly until a rogue gardener “pruned” it in half. My sister piled several rocks on her patch and then gave up. I built her some raised vegetable beds recently and she’s now gardening with great zeal, and success. It fascinates me to see people suddenly engage with gardening when they were previously intimidated or bored.

Did you study at all?
My degree is in English Literature and I also have a diploma in Acting. After my acting training I kept being offered gardening work, which I found more and more rewarding over time. I went on to study garden design at Capel Manor College in Regent’s Park. It provides fantastic part-time courses at supernaturally low prices. I now work in garden design and maintenance.

In cooking there are many ways for people to get experience – is this the same with gardening?
Absolutely.
Start small, don’t be afraid to ask for help and abandon perfectionism. It should be fun and relaxing - not another household chore.

What is your advice to anyone who, wants to start growing their own veg or herbs?
Start by planting the herbs that you use for cooking close to the kitchen. It’s tempting to buy lots of herbs but try and focus on the ones you will use. Chives, basil and parsley are indispensable. If you want to grow vegetables start small. Cut and come again salad is incredibly easy and has a very high yield. Tomatoes are also a fun and rewarding starting point. They just need full sun and plenty of food and water. Both these options would work in containers or window boxes.

Do you think that anyone can get into gardening even if they live in a very urban environment such as London?
Absolutely. Cities tend to have a hotter microclimate, which means that you can grow more things and have a longer sowing and growing season before the frosts set in. I’ve seen delicious waxy fat lemons in central London – which would be impossible to grow in the countryside. In my last flat, I only had a window box, which I filled with wild rocket seed. It tasted delicious and kept on growing. Other non-gardening friends just keep their favorite cooking herbs close to hand on the nearest available windowsill.

Tell me a bit about your allotment?
My “allotment” is a rather shambolic vegetable patch at my Gran’s in Sussex. I don’t have a garden in London and the council allotment waiting list would have taken 10 years! I found an overgrown wall in Gran’s garden with two ancient espaliered pear trees along it. It faces south and was the perfect spot for three large beds. The ground was filled with ground elder so I raised the beds with planks of larch and put cardboard over the elder to stop it coming through. I added 5 tons of soil on top of the soil to plant in. By the time the cardboard has decayed the elder should have given up. I wanted the patch to be organic and think I may have defeated the elder without resorting to chemicals.

What do you grow there?
I’m currently growing beetroot, pak choi, wild rocket, lambs lettuce, watercress, raspberries, tomatoes and courgette. Rogue potatoes keep appearing from last year. A sprinkler keeps it watered daily in the height of summer. It feeds my Mum, Gran and guests and there’s always enough for me to pick and take back to London.

About the author: Danny McCubbin is the website editor for JamieOliver.com

Post your questions to Robin here.