Compost is much easier than wormeries. It's a doddle to get right as long as you include kitchen waste and has really amazing results on your plants.

I'm very impressed that you got good results with parsnips - many people fail to get good germination with those.

I have a couple of tips that may solve your courgette problems.

1. Start them indoors on a sunny windowsill until they have two or three well-developed leaves.

2. Before you plant them out, dig out a large spadeful or two of soil from where you intend to plant them. Add a couple of spadefuls of compost or rotted manure to the hole, then replace the soil, then plant the courgette on top.

That will give them enough snail resistance - courgettes are greedy plants and need a lot of food.