Grow your own: Carrots need a lot of love, but the pay-off is sweet, crunchy and fresh

Grow your own: Get to grips with the two types of plant and you'll be tasting ripe, plump tomatoes picked fresh from your garden or pots in no time

Grow your own: Lettuce is easy to grow in your garden or simply a pot.

Grow your own … Our tips for growing your own – indoors or out

Grow your own … Garden peas. Easy, rewarding, and can grow in a huge patch or a mere pot.

Make your own … sweet chilli jam. A preserve to spice up any dish

Make your own ... gnocchi. You can make these Italian pasta dumplings with many fillings, but try these traditional ones first

Make your own: The classic creamy sauce never tastes better than when you do it yourself – and the ease with which you can will be a revelation

Make your own: Create new life in your kitchen and fresh loaves for the rest of your days with this easy method for getting cultured

Make your own … mustard. Concocting your own custom-made condiment couldn't be easier – the fiery or fruity possibilities are endless

Make your own: Butter is not something you'll make every day, but for special occasions or just to treat yourself, nothing is as luxurious

Make your own: Preserved lemons are a great addition to tagines and vegetable dishes, and they take just minutes – and a few weeks' patience – to make.

Make your own bacon: Bringing home the cured pork is easier than you might think, and means the quality of meat is guaranteed

Make your own: Peanut butter is surprisingly simple to make, and you can make lots of it. Whether you choose to shell and peel your nuts depends a lot on your patience.

Make your own: fresh pasta. Cut out the middle man (ie the pasta making machine) and knocking up your own tagliatelle or ravioli is most satisfying

Make your own: You don't need any special tools to make yoghurt; it's a fairly easy undertaking, but you will need to gather a few bits and pieces first