Veg Directory
We know that starting to grow some of your own food can be a bit daunting. But to help you on your way we’ve created a veg directory that will help you on your growing journey.
The Basics by Michael Kelly Growing Cucumbers
I grow cucumbers exactly like tomatoes, planting them in the polytunnel and allowing them to climb (they can grow up to 2m high
The Basics by Michael Kelly Growing Good Aubergines
I sometimes think that aubergines are easy to grow, but hard to grow well if you know what I mean. I find the plants easy to raise, but it’s a harder job to get good fruit.
Richard's Ramblings June 5th - Plant Spacing and Thinning
The white umbels of the cow parsley provide a wonderful natural flower show at this time of year, ribbons of lacy white flowers along the hedgerows, until you get to the strip of sprayed verge. How anyone can think a strip of dead, brown vegetation is more attractive than head high white flowers is beyond me.
Richard's Ramblings May 25th by Richard Mee
The long wet winter is quickly fading into memory now with the sun on our backs and the soil drying out. Though look closely at the garden in GROW HQ and you will see the scars inflicted by the cold and wet.
Richard's Rambling May 19th - Pollination
It’s apple blossom season, one of my favourite times of year. If you are reading this on a warm sunny afternoon and you have a blossoming tree outside then stop reading immediately and go outside to look at the tree.
The Basics "Potting up" Courgettes, Squashes and Pumpkins
I sow courgette, squash, cucumber and pumpkin plants in large module trays but they grow incredibly quickly and need to be put in to larger pots within 2 weeks or so.
Richard's Ramblings 11th May by Richard Mee
I was saddened to see, in the catalogue of horticultural supplies I use, that you could buy a device to put in the eaves of your house that stops the house martins nesting. I was trying to imagine what soulless people want to deprive themselves of the sight of these beautiful birds, not to mention the free supply of nitrogen rich fertiliser.
The Basics by Michael Kelly Getting Ready for Carrots
Carrots are fussy and they need a deep, fertile soil to do well. Ideally, the soil should be in decent nick up to a spades depth. That means they are one of the only parts of the garden where I do a good bit of work on the soil prior to sowing.
Richard's Ramblings Trees and Bushes Know How to Grow
Some gardening books even recommend removing the flowers of strawberry plants in the first year. This all seems to belong to the Victorian school of gardening, tie them down, discipline them and show them who’s boss – this might suit a certain type of gardener but wouldn’t be my idea of fun.
The Basics – Sowing Courgettes
Courgettes are easy to grow and incredibly prolific, your only problem in fact will be working out what to do with all those courgettes. If all else fails I lob them in to people’s gardens like a paper boy...
Mick Kelly explains transplanting tomatoes
"Myself and Richard have nerdy horticultural conversations over lunch at GROW HQ occasionally. They are the types of conversations that only veg obsessives could ever really enjoy." - You've been warned.
Seed potatoes from Shed to Soil
Rather than feeling quietly content, with an aching back, I am apprehensive about the final yield. Potatoes, like most plants, hate having a check in growth. The change in temperature from a warm shed to cold soil could make them produce a lighter crop of smaller potatoes.