Grow the ingredients for a tangy salsa in a barrel on your verandah. Put it in a sunny spot and enjoy!

You'll need:
Seeds of chosen salsa ingredients (we used basil, capsicum, chilli, coriander, chives, spring onions (shallots) and cherry tomatoes)
1 bag seed-raising mix
Seedling tray, Jiffy Pots and two 100mm pots
4 bags premium quality potting mix
Pelletised chicken manure
Half a full-sized wine barrel
3 tomato stakes
Power drill with spade bit or 50mm hole saw
Acrylic paint in your favourite colours
Length of thin wire
Scraps of flywire

Here's how:
1. First, sow your seeds (leave it until mid-October in cool areas). Sow two or three seeds of each variety (except chives and spring onions) in a seedling tray filled with seed-raising mix or use the Jiffy Pots. Sow chives and spring onions in their own 100mm pots. Keep the pots indoors in a warm room out of direct sun - don't let them dry out. When seedlings emerge, put pots on a windowsill with sun for most of the day, then take away from the window at night. You can plant out the seedlings when they're 8cm tall.

2. Using a power drill with a spade bit, make 10 drain holes around the edge of the wine-barrel's base. Alternatively, use a 50mm hole saw and drill four or five evenly spaced holes. Drill a small hole through the end of each stake, 3cm from the end.

3. Paint the barrel with acrylic paints in a bright, simple design. Paint the stakes and leave them to dry.

4. Place the empty barrel in your chosen spot, preferably somewhere with full sun all day and sheltered from strong wind. Cover drain holes with scraps of flywire, then pour in the potting mix. When two-thirds full, scatter in two handfuls of pelletised chicken manure. Top up potting mix to within 5cm of rim.

5. Push the stakes 6cm into the potting mix, than gather the tops, teepee-style, and thread wire through the holes. If you like, you can attach an ornament, such as a sunny Mexican decoration, to the top of the stakes.

6. Following our planting plan, plant out your mature seedlings. Don't overplant, as things need room to grow. Water seedlings well, then water deeply every three or four days or when the soil feels dry. Feed every two weeks with a soluble fertiliser that encourages flowers and fruit. Stake plants when they're 30cm tall. Expect your first crops in just over three months.

7. Make fresh salsa by chopping and mixing ingredients from your salsa garden. Add some crushed garlic, a squeeze of lime juice and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

Tip: Each year that you replant the barrel, take out one-third of the old potting mix and replace it with a mix of compost and composted manure. Dig it into the potting soil.