Share this Facebook Pinterest WhatsApp X Email Is it too late to plant vegetables? In the UK, the honest answer for early August is: for some crops yes, but for plenty of others there is still time, and a surprising amount can go in now for an autumn or even winter harvest. The crops whose … Read more
By the time August arrives, the allotment has usually stopped feeling like a race. The beans are climbing, the courgettes are out of control, and most of the spring panic about getting things in on time has passed. So a lot of people assume the sowing is over. It isn’t, not by a long way, … Read more
Caring for potato plants properly is what turns a decent crop into a much better one. A lot of gardeners do the early stage reasonably well. They choose a planting time, put seed potatoes in the ground or into grow bags, and wait for the shoots to appear. Then the questions start. Should you water … Read more
Caring for tomato plants properly is what turns a healthy-looking tomato plant into a genuinely productive one. Many UK gardeners get through the early stages well enough. Seeds germinate, seedlings grow on, and young plants are finally moved into pots, grow bags, raised beds, or a greenhouse. Then summer begins properly and the questions start. … Read more
Share this Facebook Pinterest WhatsApp X Email Share Growing tomatoes in the UK is more forgiving than most people think, and they are not the divas their reputation suggests. In more than twenty years of growing them in Oxfordshire I have come to believe that most tomato failures are not bad luck at all. They … Read more
Leeks are one of the most useful vegetables you can grow in a UK garden. They are steady, reliable, and well suited to British conditions for a large part of the year. They do not have the speed of lettuce or the drama of runner beans, but they make up for that by being practical, … Read more
This article contains affiliate links. If you buy through one of my recommended links I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products I genuinely think are worth buying. Runner beans are one of the classic crops of the UK vegetable garden, and for good reason. They are … Read more
French beans are one of the most rewarding vegetables to grow in a UK garden. They are productive, satisfying, and surprisingly manageable once the weather is warm enough for them to get going properly. Whether you want compact bush beans for a small bed or climbing beans for a taller growing space, French beans can … Read more
Lettuce is usually seen as one of the easiest crops to grow, which makes it especially annoying when the seedlings seem to vanish almost as soon as they appear. One day you can see a neat little row of fresh green shoots. The next day there are gaps everywhere. Sometimes the seedlings are gone completely. … Read more
Spinach is one of the most useful crops you can grow in a UK garden. It is quick, productive, and easy to pick a few leaves from at a time for salads, cooking, or mixed harvest baskets. That is exactly why it is so frustrating when it suddenly stops giving you soft leafy growth and … Read more