How To Grow
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How To Grow Blackcurrants
Blackcurrants are easy-to-grow bushes that produce bunches of dark purple to black fruits in mid-summer. They have a tart flavour, are an invaluable source of vitamin C and can be used in pies a … Read more -
How To Grow Lettuce
Lettuce is a favorite in the garden because it is relatively easy to grow, is one of the first crops that can be planted, and is one of the first crops to yield in the spring. It doesn’t take a lot o … Read more -
How To Grow Parsnips
Parsnips are easy to grow members of the cow parsley family. This family includes carrot, dill, fennel and parsley among others. These seeds tend to have a short period of viability, so new packets … Read more -
How to Grow Onions
Onions are one of the most popular vegetables for growing in home gardens and are one of the first crops of spring. They can be stored over winter thus making a versatile crop. They are used in a h … Read more -
How To Grow Garlic
Growing garlic is both easy and satisfying: it's well-suited to both the first time gardener and the more experienced. A haul of freshly harvested garlic is a beautiful thing, especially when the out … Read more -
How To Grow Carrots
Get the soil conditions correct and carrots are one of the easiest vegetables to grow in the cooler climates. Incorrect soil conditions lead to misshapen carrots - these may well cause a chuckle when … Read more -
10 Easy Crops to Grow for Beginners
When you’re just starting on your food-growing journey, it’s probably best to be a little selective about what you’re planning to grow. There are some food crops that can prove to be surprisingly dif … Read more -
How to Grow Beetroot
Beetroot is one of my best friends in the garden as we get so much out of it: using it for juicing, grating it for salads, roasting, baking and - my favourite of all - pickling. This crop has recentl … Read more -
How To Grow Rhubarb
Choose a sunny open site in which to plant your rhubarb crown as rhubarb does not grow well in shade. November is the perfect time to plant a rhubarb crown. Make sure the site is weed-free and dig … Read more -
How To Grow Kale (Red)
How to grow red kale, the variety we use most often in our nurseries is Red Russian, this is a frost hardy variety with a sweeter taste than other kale. A wonderful addition to the winter garden … Read more -
How to Grow Brussels Sprouts
'Brigitte F1' has to be the best and most reliable brussels sprout variety with fantastic results every time. We recommend using an F1 hybrid sprout like Brigitte because the sprouts stay closed lo … Read more -
How To Grow Runner Beans
How to Grow your own Runner Beans from seed or seedlings with this step by step guide including plant maintenance, pest and disease control and harvesting. All this growing beans information is als … Read more -
How To Grow Swede
Swede is one of the easiest vegetables to grow and is well-suited to the novice gardener. They also crop over a very long time because they can be left in the soil throughout the winter. Swede … Read more -
Growing Fruit in Containers
So, the other week, I had an email from a customer asking for advice on what soil mix to use for planting fruit trees in containers. It was a simple question which should have resulted in a quick r … Read more -
How to Grow Cabbage (Winter)
Cabbage is a demanding plant from the amount of nutrients it needs and the space it takes up in the garden. It really is easy to grow if you feed your soil properly to begin with and take precautions … Read more -
How To Grow Celery
The trick with growing celery is to take a lot of care sowing your transplants, making sure the plants never get stressed or pot bound. When planted out remember celery is originally a wetla … Read more -
How To Grow Pumpkins
Pumpkins have a special appeal for both adults and children, especially at Halloween. The carved pumpkin outside the front door - or being carried house to house as a lantern - is an established trad … Read more -
How To Grow Kale (Italian)
'Cavolo Nero' or 'Nero Di Toscana' is the only kale grown in Italy, simply because it is by far the best tasting kale. Its large strap like leaves are fantastic in a stir fry with excellent taste a … Read more -
How To Grow Leeks
Lovely long slender stems, this variety makes a lovely, tasty baby leek for harvesting from mid summer onward. The flavour is no less impressive when eaten full size in the autumn. The leek is a … Read more -
How To Grow Climbing French Beans
Sowing French Bean - Climbing Recommended varieties: Cobra. You can sow climbing french beans indoors from the middle of May to plant out later or sow outdoors at the end of May. Be aware that Fren … Read more -
How To Grow Gooseberry
Gooseberry Bushes How to grow gooseberries. Ranging from huge, juicy, red dessert fruit to tiny, sparkling, golden drops of sweetness, gooseberries are a great, easy to grow choice. This section als … Read more -
How To Grow French Beans (Dwarf)
Dwarf French Beans are a compact habit plant that don't need staking like runner beans or peas. They are easy to grow and withstand dry conditions perhaps better than any other crop, and they leave th … Read more -
How To Grow Sugar Snap Peas
Peas are well-suited to cooler temperate climates. In fact, when temperatures exceed 20C (70F), most varieties of peas will stop producing pods. Peas are part of the legume (Latin Leguminosae) f … Read more -
How To Grow Diakon Radish
How to grow daikon radishes. Daikon is a long, white variety of radish. Also known as white radish, mooli or Oriental radish, daikon radishes can grow over a foot long. They have a crispy texture, m … Read more -
Sowing & growing tomatoes
In case you are new to vegetable growing, I feel I should point out that tomatoes need heat throughout their lifecycle, both to germinate and grow healthy seedlings and to produce ripe fruit. Growers … Read more -
The Vegetable Garden in April - Soil Preparation and Garden Tasks
I don't know what it has been like for you, but March has been a relatively dry month in my garden which meant I was able to do a bit more outside than I normally would. While I write this, however, … Read more -
Growing tips for beginners
Last week the blog included some tips on starting a new vegetable garden and, judging by the emails I received (thank you), a number of you found it very helpful (fantastic!). With that in mind, I … Read more -
How To Grow Peppers
Growing Peppers Peppers and chillis are expensive when bought in the shops so growing your own is an economical exercise which also brings great pleasure. They are tropical plants and therefore appr … Read more -
Why Grow Your Own Food?
Why grow your own food? It's a fair question to ask. 'Fruits and vegetables aren't that expensive in the first place', you might say. 'It's time-consuming', you might also ponder, while wondering abou … Read more -
How To Grow Tomatoes
Tomatoes are one of the most rewarding crops for the home gardener to grow, simply because their flavour is so much better than their shop-bought cousins. Tomatoes grown for the supermarket shelf hav … Read more -
How to grow in a greenhouse
Whatever style of greenhouse you opt for - whether it’s a ‘lean-to’, a compact house or a larger one - it will open up new possibilities for you and extend your growing season. It’s also a very pleas … Read more -
How To Grow Tomatoes In Containers
Tomatoes can be grown in containers like pots, planters, growbags, and hanging baskets, they may not be the easiest plant to grow at home but they are definitely one of the favourites. There are many … Read more -
How to Grow Claytonia
Claytonia is also known as winter purslane or miners lettuce, it tastes quite like spinach and is full of vitamin C. It is a tough, cold resistant salad for growing in the open to crop from October un … Read more -
How To Grow Courgettes
Courgettes are easy to grow with two plants producing ample courgettes for most families. Courgettes are best picked small for best flavour, these plants are also very prolific so don't worry there … Read more -
How to Grow Chilli Peppers
Unlike other countries in the world, we just don't get the weather to grow chilli peppers successfully outdoors. It is possible but the results and cropping levels aren't as good. From my own persona … Read more -
How To Grow Cauliflower
The cauliflower is not the easiest of the brassica family to grow but a large white cauliflower with tight white curds is a thing of beauty and producing one a source of much satisfaction. Variety is … Read more -
Unusual Fruit and Vegetables to Grow in a Polytunnel
When it comes to polytunnel growing, there tends to be something of a consensus around which crops are reliable staples in a temperate climate such as in the UK. Indeed you will have probably heard u … Read more -
How To Grow Perpetual Spinach
Perpetual spinach is actually a chard (beet family) but is very similar to true spinach in flavour. We prefer it as it is much easier to grow and far more vigorous than true spinach. It also has the … Read more -
How To Grow Broad Beans
Broad beans are the simplest thing to grow. They are hardy and produce a large crop of delicious beans. I prefer to pick them young for a sweeter bean which are lovely tossed into a salad. You can ea … Read more -
How to Grow Broccoli (Calabrese)
When most people hear the word 'broccoli' this is the crop that they will see in their mind's eye. The large green heads, made up of tightly packed florets, are popular with beginner gardeners and ve … Read more -
How To Grow Oriental Salads
Soil and Site Any moderately fertile moisture retentive soil is good. A sheltered semi shade position is ideal. Rotation Oriental salads are part of the brassica rotation Sowing Orientals … Read more -
What to Grow in the Polytunnel in Winter
We had a number of questions recently on polytunnel growing: particularly whether polytunnels are worth the investment and whether it is true that they enable year-round growing, so I figured I might … Read more -
How To Grow Sprouting Broccoli
Know Your Broccoli! In Italian the word broccoli means 'little sprouts'. It is part of the Brassica family of vegetables, which also includes cauliflower, cabbages, Brussels sprouts, turnips and many … Read more -
How To Grow Butternut Squash (Winter Squash)
Squash plants are closely related to cucumbers, courgettes and marrows, and are a member of the same family, curcurbit. Squash plants come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and include butternut sq … Read more -
How To Grow Tat Soi
Tatsoi is an oriental mustard green and is also called spinach mustard. Its a popular salad green in Aisan cuisine. Soil & Water Tatsoi greens prefer rich, fertile soil with a pH of 6.0-7.5 and p … Read more -
How to Grow Radish Black Spanish
Radishes are a cool season vegetable that can mature very quickly. The small, round varieties will get woody if grown in hot temperatures.Planting Radishes Radishes are direct seeded in the garde … Read more -
April in the Vegetable Garden - What to Sow
For a bit of colour to start, below is the beautiful magenta bulbs of onion 'long red Florence': a crop I harvested in 2021, but a variety I sow every year. A new batch of onion seedling plants (sown … Read more -
No Dig Garden Beds
Put that shovel away! No-dig gardening continues to grow in popularity with home growers and gardeners, but what does it actually involve? Will you need to sell all your garden tools? (Not quite) The … Read more -
French Intensive Gardening
‘French Intensive Gardening’. Sounds kind of daunting, who wants gardening to be intensive? Me, I like to do a little burst of work here and there and take it easy on myself. But you shouldn’t read … Read more -
How to Grow Chard
Chard is basically a beet without the bottom. It's a biennial that is grown as an annual for its big crinkly leaves. The stalks are red or white with large, dark green leaves that can be used as sa … Read more