They don’t call it spring for nothing. This is the season where everything comes back to life and is the perfect time to plant veges in your backyard.

If you like sweetcorn, then planting it in early-mid spring will be ready for picking around Christmas.

But first things first, you have to pick for the right time to plant sweetcorn. It’s essential that you wait until after the danger of frosts has passed. Choose a sunny spot with rich soil and plant 2.5cm deep, in rows 25cm apart. Make sure the soil is damp when the seeds go in then don’t water again until sprouts have come through.

Most sweetcorn varieties take around 99 days to mature. You’ll know the time is right when the fine silk (stringy bits) turn brown.

For the best corn you’ll ever have, cook within 30 minutes of picking.

If corn is not your thing try another veggie. Now is the perfect time to plant just about everything from watermelon, tomatoes, zucchini, rocket and snow peas, to leeks, carrots, broccoli and cucumbers.

There are heaps of sites out there with growing information. We found gardengrow.co.nz to be very useful.