What's new, what's growing, what we're learning. Updates, guides and stories for people who take their garden seriously.
Why several plants come up from one seed, why you should eat the leaves, and how to store beetroot in damp sand until spring.
The long white shaft makes a good leek. How to plant leeks deep, earth them up right, and protect them from leek moth and onion fly with a net.
Twenty heads at once and then nothing? How small batches and loose-leaf lettuce give you an even harvest from spring into autumn, and why lettuce will not germinate in high summer.
Five bean types, five roles in the garden and the kitchen. Which bean goes in when, which one climbs, why they feed the soil and why you must never eat one raw.
Fresh from the bed, sweetcorn is a revelation. Why wind pollination means planting in a block not a row, how to harvest full cobs and what the milk stage tells you.
Three botanical species, four kitchen types, and why you must never eat a bitter squash. Which squash is good for what, how to grow it and harvest it ripe.
Salad or pickling cucumber, greenhouse or outdoors, and why a cucumber turns bitter. How to grow both types, train them up a support and harvest them crisp.
Pinching out sounds like secret lore but takes thirty seconds per plant. Why only cordon tomatoes get it, how to spot the sucker, and when to hold back.
Zucchini are one of the most rewarding vegetables you can grow, and a handful of plants will feed a whole family. From choosing a variety through starting seeds and planting out to the daily harvest at the height of summer: the whole journey, explained without rushing.
