Full of beans for summer

May and June are among the most rewarding months for vegetable growers. Seeds we planted only a few weeks ago are now thriving seedlings, and it won’t be long before our first home-grown potatoes and broad beans are ready to eat.

It’s easy to get carried away and do too much, though, which is why you have to stretch your body before you even pick up a seed packet – and take plenty of rest breaks. Caring for your back is important because if it hurts to bend you won’t be able to plant or weed – the two most important tasks right now. Kneel to plant seeds, rather than bending, and consider getting a gardening kneeler – one that doubles as a seat is ideal as you can use it to push yourself up.

Many of the seedlings you have raised indoors or in cold frames can now be planted out. Start with French beans and runner beans, erecting a framework for them to grow up. Choose a sheltered spot to avoid wind damage and aid pollination. Bamboo cane wigwams are easiest: place up to six 8ft (2.4m) canes in a circle at least2ft (60cm) wide, then tie the tops of the canes together. Beans are hungry plants, so water them well and put a mulch of garden compost around their roots to feed them and keep the soil moist.

You can also plant out the courgettes and pumpkins, plus summer squash, cucumbers and marrows. They need to be hardened off – left outside during the day – for a week, then water the seedlings in their pots, dig compost into the planting hole and, once the seedlings are in the soil, keep them well watered.

Courgettes take up about 2ft (60cm) of space once fully grown; pumpkins may need up to 3ft (1m) and squashes usually grow thick vines along the ground so need extra room.

Soak any leek seedlings that have reached the thickness of a pencil. Make holes 6in (15cm) deep and 4in (10cm) apart, placing a seedling in each then filling it with water to allow the soil to settle around the roots. Plant out tomato seedlings once they are 6-9in (15-23cm) and have their first flower buds. Harden them off first, then plant them about 18in (45cm) apart, and water well.

Keep sowing, too: sprouts, autumn cabbage, cucumbers and parsnips in May; and carrots, lettuce, turnips, swede and kale until late July.

Suttons Seeds has a Grow Your Own campaign on its website with tips for novices, plus a Vegetable Grower Starter Pack including patio pouches and discount vouchers.

Gardening is a great activity for everyone – especially for people in their fifties who want to improve their health without resorting to a punishing exercise regime. Just a few hours a week spent gardening, combined with eating cholesterol-controlling Benecol products, such as spreads and yogurts, and you could find that life really does begin at 50 after all! There are many more informative articles and tips in Healthy Times – the free monthly email from Benecol.