Lettuce is the perfect crop for a window box or other container, and needs little care, other than regular watering. You can grow any variety of lettuce in an ornamental border or bed, though the loose-leaved and colored kinds are the best choice as a foliage edging. In a small raised vegetable bed, growing lettuce [...]
Many herbs are grown indoors all year round, but indoor herbs are particularly useful in winter for quick harvesting. In sheltered sites they can also be grown on patios and balconies through winter. Treat indoor herbs as practical or useful plants with short shelf or windowsill lives. Like other pot-grown plants, they need nutrients, water, [...]
Celery is tricky to grow so is not worth attempting unless you have plenty of space and you are prepared to pamper it. However, it is not as demanding as it used to be, thanks to modern self-blanching varieties. These have done away with time-consuming jobs, such as digging trenches and earthing up, that were [...]
Cauliflower is not the easiest vegetable to grow well and it can tie up a lot of space in your garden for quite a time. However, if you want a challenge, it is a crop that can be enjoyed over a long period. A modern approach is to grow closely spaced baby cauliflowers. As well [...]
Forget the giant roots favoured by allotment gardeners and think sweet, crunchy, baby carrot: and you will appreciate how carrots are a perfect crop for the smallest garden. Their fresh, green feathery foliage makes carrots a good foil for flowers whether in a border or a container. However you grow them, the taste of fresh [...]
Cabbage may not be your first choice for a patio container or an ornamental border, but it can offer the gardener variety and color in a number of attractive plants. For example, consider red cabbages with their mauve-tinged outer leaves and tight red hearts, or one of the many hardy winter cabbages. Both types tend [...]
Brussels sprouts are so called because they are thought to have originated in Bel¬gium, where they are recorded as growing in the mid- 18 century. By the beginning of the 19th century they had spread to France and Britain. Even after 200 years of cultivation, Brussels sprouts still seem to be an acquired taste. Not [...]
Unlike other forms of bean, broad (fava) beans can be an acquired taste; not every-body likes them. However, when they are cooked straight from the plant, home-grown beans have a flavour that is never found in bought ones, so if you have not enjoyed them in the past, grow some and try them again – [...]
In a small garden, beetroot offers variety, diversity and color. There are varieties with white, yellow and striped roots, round roots for baby beet and long roots which are easy to slice. Beetroot is ideal for mini-vegetable beds, grows well in containers, and the leaves can be decorative enough for the flower border.
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Beetroot is a [...]
Asparagus is a luxury vegetable that is not hard to grow but does need patience. A decent-sized bed (one that contains at least ten plants) takes up a lot of space. If you have room for only a couple of plants, grow them at the back of a border to provide a feathery foil for [...]