How to Grow Courgettes

Courgette plants take up a lot of space, spreading at least l m across. But, if you can find room for them in a border or a patio tub, you…

How to Grow Climbing French Beans

As a change from runner beans, try growing climbing French beans up a wigwam in the border or on a trellis or arch. Varieties with yellow-, purple- and red-flushed pods…

How to Grow Chicory and Endive

These continental salad plants are a major ingredient in the bags of exotic salad mixtures available in supermarkets. They are fairly easy to grow and can be harvested late in…

How to Grow Celery

Celery is an important vegetable for the kitchen as it is used, at least in part, in many dishes, including basic recipes such as stocks. Its culinary importance is not…

How to Grow Cauliflowers

Cauliflowers are not the easiest of crops to grow, but they are one of the most rewarding, both in a sense of achievement and in the eating. Like so many…
Posted inGeneral How To's

How to Grow Carrots

Many people may wonder if it is worth growing carrots when they are so cheap to buy. The answer must be an emphatic "yes". Fresh carrots, whether old or young,…

How to Grow Cabbages

Cabbage has been in cultivation for 3,000 years or so, but the cabbage as we know it today is a comparatively recent development, probably dating from the Middle Ages. Cabbage…

How to Grow Broad Beans

It can be difficult to buy good-quality fresh broad beans in the shops. But this needn't worry the vegetable gardener, as broad beans are easy to grow and, unlike runner…

How to Grow Apples

Apples are a staple fruit, grown in many countries around the world, but although there are, literally, thousands of varieties, the number available in shops can be limited. Unlike many…
Posted inFood & Cooking

How to Grow Apricots

Apricots are not grown as frequently as most other fruit, partly because they are not very easy to grow and partly because, with limited space, most gardeners prefer to grow…

How to Grow Aubergine

Although we now know them by their French name, aubergines were originally called eggplants - look at the small white fruits of the variety 'Ova' to see why. It is…

How to Grow Aubergines

Surprisingly the aubergine (eggplant) is related to the potato although so different. Now popular vegetables in the shops, aubergines have never really been widely grown in the garden and the…

How to Grow Blackcurrants

Not only do blackcurrants have a unique flavour, but they are much valued for their high vitamin C content. They are used widely in desserts as well as jams and…

How to Grow Beetroot

Beetroot (beets) originated around the shores of the Mediterranean and was spread northwards into the rest of Europe by the Romans. Once the Romans reached northern and eastern Europe, the…

How to Grow Asparagus

Asparagus was once the food of the wealthy - if you didn't have your own garden, you couldn't grow it. Nowadays it is much more widely available, but shoots cut…