Grow-your-own is back in favour, with fruit trees one of the main beneficiaries, according to Homebase.
The retailer, which is one of the biggest sellers of seeds and garden plants in the UK, puts the boom down to increasing food prices, diminishing incomes and the desire to lead 'the good life'.

Homebase says that as well as familiar staples, home growers are now also opting for more unusual crops such as okra, purple carrots and vegetables used in stir fries, such as pak choi, oriental mustard and red hot chillis.

And sales of fruit trees at Homebase have leapt by 30% this year. Traditional British heritage varieties of apple are most in demand, with Cox's Orange Pippin the number one choice of fruit tree for home growers.

Worcester Pearmain apple trees are second, closely followed by Laxton's Superb.

Traditional cobnuts, which have become very difficult to find in supermarkets, are also popular, as are the closely-related filbert nuts.

For the first time, there is also a move to grow your own exotic fruit such as nectarines, peaches and apricots.

A Homebase survey suggests that 26% of homeowners now possess a vegetable plot, despite the fact that more people than ever are living in flats or new homes with comparatively small gardens.

Homebase says this suggests that grow-your-own may be taking place on a micro scale - in window and patio pots and in small spaces between established flowers as well as in traditional, full-sized vegetable plots.