The blog
Long, sourced articles about the vegetable garden: what to plant and when, which pairings actually hold up, how to read a sowing calendar.
4 min read
Choose a lasting position for this perennial, then let the crown establish before picking stems. Leave the first year unharvested, pick lightly in the second and never eat the leaves.
3 min read
Tubers are lifted as needed, often in the colder months. A defined patch, loosened soil and a check for missed pieces make harvesting easier to manage.
3 min read
Parsley can take several weeks to germinate. Optional soaking, steady moisture and a clearly marked row help you avoid assuming too soon that the sowing has failed.
4 min read
For a direct start, use an offset, allow room for a perennial and choose a planting window that suits the soil and local cold.
3 min read
Butternut, red kuri and pumpkins do not all take the same space. Choose between starting in pots and direct sowing, then reserve enough ground for fruits to mature.
4 min read
Judge planting by soil conditions, prepare seed tubers without mistaking them for botanical seed, then protect shoots and earth up as they grow.
3 min read
French beans are tender. Check that the soil has warmed, then choose between dwarf beans for successive sowings and climbing beans that need support.
3 min read
Rye, vetch and field beans do different jobs. Choose according to sowing conditions, soil and the next crop, then decide how you will terminate the cover.
3 min read
Basil germinates in warmth and is tender to cold. Start it in good light, then harden plants off before moving them outside in reliably mild nights.
3 min read
Cucumbers need warmth, but the right sowing depends on where the plant will finish. Separate heated greenhouse, unheated cover and outdoor growing before moving a young plant.
3 min read
Check whether clay is ready to work, keep traffic off wet beds and choose improvements for the problem you observe. A practical guide to soil condition, organic matter and drainage.
4 min read
Plan a leek crop from sowing through transplanting, with practical nursery, spacing and aftercare cues for the harvest season you want.
3 min read
Learn why beet seedlings can emerge in clusters, then choose a direct-sowing or nursery method and manage spacing for the roots you want.
3 min read
Grow tomato seedlings from seed with a clear sequence for warmth, light, potting on and planting out.
4 min read
Compare leaf mulch and other garden materials by crop, bed and season. Learn where to spread them, when to uncover a seed row and what to check beneath the cover.
3 min read
For UK gardens, sow peas outdoors from March once the soil reaches about 10°C. Match row layout and support to plant height, and use repeat sowings for a longer harvest.
3 min read
Identify what is eating your seedlings, check the vulnerable rows and use targeted hand-picking. Adjust damp debris around crops while keeping useful mulch and garden wildlife.
3 min read
For UK gardens, direct-sow onions in early to mid-spring as the soil warms, or plant sets in spring. Learn how the two methods differ and when overwintering varieties fit.
3 min read
In a UK garden, plant most shallot sets in spring and reserve autumn or winter planting for suitable varieties and free-draining ground. Learn the spacing and planting method.
3 min read
In the UK, sow broad beans outdoors in March, April or early May. Autumn or February sowing is for mild or sheltered sites with hardy varieties; follow the RHS depth and spacing for your method.
3 min read
In the UK, sow a winter lettuce variety in September or October under cover, or in a mild garden under a cloche or cold frame. Thin and protect plants according to their type and site.
3 min read
Choose early roots or a later maincrop, then match sowing to local conditions and the water you can provide. A guide to season, thinning and root quality.
3 min read
Learn how salad and winter radishes differ in sowing depth, spacing and harvest, then stagger small batches for a steadier supply.
3 min read
Check the bed base and the soil beneath before choosing a depth. Compare open beds with containers on paving, then match the available root zone and drainage to your crops.
3 min read
Check light, space and the local frost outlook before starting courgettes indoors. Choose between pots and direct sowing, then prepare a gradual move outdoors without treating UK dates as universal.
3 min read
Check moisture below the surface before watering. Adapt your method to seedlings, established crops, rainfall and containers, and keep a simple record of what works in your garden.
3 min read
In the UK, sow spinach in cool weather in mid to late spring or late summer to early autumn. Choose a hardy variety for an overwintering crop, then thin seedlings and pick leaves in succession.
3 min read
Identify the rocket species on your seed packet, then use practical sowing and harvest cues suited to its growth habit.
3 min read
Identify the crops most exposed to frost, choose between fleece and a tunnel, then secure and monitor the cover. Practical steps for seedlings, pots and established beds.
3 min read
Learn to sow carrots in a prepared bed, keep the seedbed moist while seeds emerge and thin seedlings without disturbing the roots.
7 min read
Three measured plans for 10, 20 and 50 m², with paths, bed access, cautious plant counts and seasonal successions to adapt to your garden.
3 min read
Autumn garlic succeeds less through an exact date than through drainage, healthy cloves and coherent spacing. A complete method from choosing bulbs to harvest.
5 min read
A useful calendar is more than twelve lists. It separates protected sowing, direct sowing and planting out, then adjusts each window for climate, soil and crop.
3 min read
Lamb's lettuce is easy once established. The challenge is a shallow sowing, cool moist soil and a date that leaves enough light for growth before winter.
7 min read
Sunlight is the one garden constraint you cannot amend or irrigate your way out of. Here is how to actually measure the light on your plot, and what each level of exposure will genuinely grow.
6 min read
Blossom end rot is not a disease, not a fungus, and almost never a shortage of calcium in your soil. It is a water supply problem inside the plant, which changes entirely what you should do about it.
6 min read
On two square metres, the question is not "what do I like eating?" but "what earns its space and its months of occupation?". Here is what passes that test, what fails it, and why.
6 min read
Crop rotation rests on two specific mechanisms, not on a magic rule. Here is how to think in botanical families, why nightshades deserve your attention first, and how to make trade-offs when your plot is only a couple of hundred square feet.
8 min read
Garlic, shallots, lamb's lettuce, spinach or green manure: what you can plant and sow in October, with the limits imposed by climate and soil.
6 min read
Companion planting charts talk about which plants like each other. With courgettes the real questions are bulk, shade and pollination. Here is what holds up and what is only tradition.
7 min read
There is no single correct distance between two tomato plants. Here are the three variables that decide it, the spacings most growers work from, and how to adjust them for your own plot.
8 min read
Late blight is not a fungus, and that distinction explains everything else. Its biology sets the terms: liquid water on the leaves and a moderate temperature. Everything that actually works consists of denying it those terms.
4 min read
"After the last frost" is not a method. Here are the three signals that actually determine planting time, and how to read them where you live.
4 min read
Tomato companion planting is a field where tradition and evidence disagree. Here is what holds up, what is shaky, and what actually decides your crop.
4 min read
September is not the end of the season. It is the month that decides what your garden looks like in March, provided you sow quickly.
Marmanda turns this advice into a dated, placed plan for your own plot.
