Growing Vegetables features clear, beginner-friendly guides on how to grow popular crops in the UK. Learn when to plant, how to care for vegetables through the season, and how to improve yields in gardens and allotments.
I have grown herbs in some form or another for the whole twenty-plus years I have been gardening in Oxfordshire, and they are still the crops I rate most highly for new gardeners. They are quick to reward you, they are forgiving when you forget about them for a week, and most of them produce … Read more
The best vegetables to grow in pots in the UK aren’t the ones that get the most attention. They’re the ones that actually thrive in containers through a typical British summer. That means no swedes, no parsnips, no maincrop potatoes, and probably no Brussels sprouts either. But there’s still a huge list of vegetables that … Read more
How to grow basil from seed in the UK isn’t difficult, but it’s surprisingly easy to get wrong if you don’t know the small details that matter. Cold compost, weak light, the wrong watering technique, and basil dies fast. Get the basics right and a single £2 packet of seeds gives you basil plants producing … Read more
How to grow pumpkins in the UK isn’t complicated, but it isn’t quite as easy as garden centres make it look in October either. The trick is understanding that a pumpkin plant is essentially a very ambitious vine that wants to take over your garden, produce an enormous fruit, and then quietly die before the … Read more
How to grow sweetcorn in the UK isn’t complicated once you know what it needs. There’s something properly special about home-grown sweetcorn too. The sugars start turning to starch the moment you pick a cob, which means supermarket sweetcorn is never really at its best by the time it reaches you. Pick a cob in … Read more
Basil is one of the most popular herbs to grow in the UK, but it is also one of the most commonly killed by poor timing. Buy a supermarket pot in April, put it on a windowsill, and watch it slowly collapse. Grow it from seed at the right time with a little care and … Read more
Pumpkins are one of the most rewarding vegetables to grow in a UK garden, but they need more space, more warmth and more time than most beginners expect. Get the timing right and pumpkins grow vigorously, produce impressive fruit and look spectacular through late summer and autumn. Rush them into cold ground too early and … Read more
Sweetcorn is one of those crops that does brilliantly when you get the timing right and goes badly wrong when you do not. It is not a difficult plant to grow, but it does need warmth, and the UK gives you a fairly narrow window to work with. Sow too early and the seeds rot. … Read more
If you have ever stood in front of a packet of seeds wondering whether to sow them now or wait, this is the page for you. UK gardening is all about timing. Sow too early and seeds rot in cold soil. Plant out too late and crops do not have time to ripen before autumn. … Read more
Potatoes are one of the most satisfying crops you can grow in a UK garden. They are practical, productive, and far less fussy than many beginners expect. You do not need a huge vegetable plot, perfect soil, or years of experience to grow them well. In fact, potatoes are often one of the best crops … Read more