Perennial Vegetables
Asparagus
A dedicated asparagus bed takes patience at first but can then give dependable spring crops for many years.
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Growing guides
Practical, illustrated growing guidance for planning each crop from sowing through to harvest.
Showing 56 of 56 crop guides
Tomatoes, Peppers & Aubergines
Aubergines
Aubergines, also called eggplants or brinjal, are tender, heat-loving members of the tomato and pepper family.
Read growing guideBeans, Peas & Legumes
Beans for drying
Beans grown for drying are left on the plant until their pods and seeds reach full maturity.
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Root crop
Beetroot
Sow little and often for tender summer roots, mature autumn beetroot and a dependable crop for winter storage.
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Hardy legume
Broad Beans
Plan autumn or spring sowings for one of the earliest bean harvests, with support, care and picking guidance.
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Brassica crop
Broccoli
Grow sprouting broccoli for repeated harvests of tender shoots from summer, autumn, winter or early spring.
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Winter brassica
Brussels Sprouts
Raise sturdy, well-spaced plants for firm sprouts harvested progressively from autumn through late winter.
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Cabbages & Brassicas
Cabbages
Cabbages are hardy, versatile brassicas that can be sown indoors or outside and generally reach harvest in four to six months. Their heads range from small and pointed to large drumheads, with smooth, crinkled, green, blue, red or purple leaves. Growing small batches of types intended for different seasons is the key to avoiding gluts and maintaining a year-round supply.
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Brassica crop
Calabrese
Grow tightly budded central heads and productive side-shoots from summer through autumn.
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Root crop
Carrots
Sow carrots for tender roots, dependable succession crops and winter storage.
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Brassica
Cauliflowers
Raise firm, well-watered plants for compact curds across summer, autumn, winter and spring.
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Root crop
Celeriac
Raise celeriac for large, fragrant roots with steady moisture through a long season.
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Stem vegetable
Celery
Grow crisp celery with fertile soil, steady water and careful blanching where needed.
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Leaf crop
Chard
Raise colourful, resilient chard for repeated leaves and stems over an extended season.
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Leaf crop
Chicory
Grow radicchio, sugarloaf and forcing chicory for crisp leaves and winter chicons.
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Warm-season crop
Chilli Peppers
Grow chilli peppers under cover or in a warm, sunny sheltered position.
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Asian brassica
Chinese Broccoli
Grow quick Chinese broccoli crops for tender stems, leaves and flower buds.
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Oriental brassica
Chinese Cabbage
Raise crisp Chinese cabbage leaves and full heads, with practical advice for avoiding bolting.
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Summer squash
Courgettes
Grow productive courgettes from warm sowing through regular summer harvesting.
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Warm-season crop
Cucumbers
Raise cucumbers under cover or in a warm sheltered site for crisp summer fruit.
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Salad crop
Endive
Sow frisée and escarole types for cut leaves, blanched heads and protected winter harvests.
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Bulb vegetable
Florence Fennel
Grow crisp Florence fennel bulbs with moist soil, careful spacing and bolt-aware sowing.
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Tender legume
French Beans
Choose dwarf or climbing French beans for quick, tender pods through the warm season.
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Allium crop
Garlic
Plant cloves in ground, modules or containers for a dependable summer garlic harvest.
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Perennial crop
Globe artichokes
Establish architectural perennial artichokes for plump summer buds and pollinator-friendly flowers.
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Perennial crop
Jerusalem artichokes
Plant vigorous Jerusalem artichokes for tall summer growth and winter tuber harvests.
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Winter brassica
Kale
Grow hardy kale for regular lower-leaf pickings, microgreens and salad leaves.
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Brassica crop
Kohlrabi
Raise crisp, swollen kohlrabi stems with reliable sowing, spacing and harvest guidance.
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Onions & Alliums
Leeks
Leeks (*Allium porrum*) are reliable, mild-flavoured members of the onion family. They grow slowly and steadily from spring sowing through summer and autumn, with mature plants usually taking about six months. Their great advantage is flexibility: baby leeks can be ready within a couple of months, while hardy winter cultivars can stand outside and be lifted only when needed.
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Salad crop
Lettuce
Make repeat sowings of hearting and loose-leaf lettuces for fresh salads across the season.
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Summer squash
Marrows
Grow bush and trailing marrows with ample room, steady watering and frost-free harvests.
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Asian salad crop
Mizuna and Mibuna
Sow mizuna and mibuna repeatedly for cut-and-come-again leaves in most seasons.
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Warm-season crop
Okra
Grow tender okra pods under reliable warmth in a greenhouse, polytunnel or sheltered container.
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Allium
Onions
Choose seed, sets or modules for onions that mature into firm, well-stored bulbs.
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Asian brassica
Pak Choi
Sow pak choi in cool conditions for tender leaves, stems and compact heads.
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Root crop
Parsnips
Sow fresh parsnip seed for sweet roots harvested from autumn through winter.
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Legume
Peas
Sow sweet garden peas, mangetouts and sugarsnaps in succession for a long summer harvest.
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Warm-season crop
Peppers
Raise sweet peppers in reliable warmth, then feed and harvest glossy fruit through summer.
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Potatoes & Edible Tubers
Potatoes
Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are dependable, productive allotment crops grown from specially prepared seed tubers. They suit traditional rows, no-dig beds, large pots and grow bags. A carefully chosen mixture of early and maincrop cultivars can provide small new potatoes from early summer, larger tubers into autumn and a stored supply for winter. Buy certified virus-free seed potatoes rather than planting supermarket tubers. Garden centres stock them in late winter and spring, while mail-order suppliers usually offer the widest choice. Early seed potatoes can be chitted before planting to shorten the wait for the first harvest, but chitting is optional and offers little advantage to long-season maincrops. All green parts of the potato plant and green tubers are potentially harmful. Keep developing potatoes covered with soil or compost so light cannot turn them green, and discard green tubers at harvest.
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Tender cucurbit
Pumpkins
Raise warmth-loving pumpkins for carving, cooking and dependable winter storage.
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Root crop
Radishes
Grow quick salad roots, long oriental radishes and cool-season winter varieties in small batches.
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Perennial crop
Rhubarb
Establish long-lived rhubarb crowns, divide ageing plants and harvest tender spring stems safely.
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Salad crop
Rocket
Sow salad and wild rocket in succession for peppery leaves from spring into winter.
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Tender legume
Runner Beans
Support vigorous runner beans for long, stringless pods picked frequently in summer.
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Salad crop
Salad Leaves
Mix fast leafy crops and succession sowings for cut-and-come-again salads all year.
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Allium crop
Salad Onions
Sow small batches of salad onions for crisp stems from spring into autumn.
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Root crop
Salsify
Grow salsify for winter roots, blanched spring shoots and edible flowers.
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Allium
Shallots
Plant shallots for productive clusters of flavourful bulbs that store well.
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Legume
Soya Beans
Grow warm-season soya beans for green edamame or mature beans for storage.
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Leaf crop
Spinach
Sow cool-season spinach for tender baby leaves and larger repeated harvests.
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Courgettes, Cucumbers & Squash
Squashes
Squashes are tender, productive cucurbits grown for fruits in a wide range of shapes, colours, sizes and flavours. Most are varieties of Cucurbita moschata, C. maxima or C. pepo. Some form sprawling vines, while bush types stay more compact, although even these can occupy about a square metre.
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Root crop
Swedes
Grow hardy swedes for sweet, yellow-fleshed roots harvested through autumn and winter.
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Crop guide
Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes, Ipomoea batatas, are tender tropical climbing or trailing plants grown for their edible storage roots.
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Crop guide
Sweetcorn
Sweetcorn, Zea mays, is a tender annual grass grown for fresh, sweet kernels.
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Crop guide
Tomatoes
Tomatoes, Solanum lycopersicum, can be raised from seed or bought as young plants, then grown in greenhouse borders, open ground, growing bags or large pots.
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Crop guide
Turnips
Turnips are fast-growing brassicas whose small rounded or flattened roots are usually white, purple, red or yellow.
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