Giant Vegetables UK: How Growers Break Records
How UK growers break world records with 600kg pumpkins, 8kg onions, and 6m carrots. Methods, varieties, and where to see giant vegetables in 2026.
Practical vegetable growing guides written for British soil, weather, and growing seasons.
How UK growers break world records with 600kg pumpkins, 8kg onions, and 6m carrots. Methods, varieties, and where to see giant vegetables in 2026.
Best UK onion varieties compared from a 4-year trial of 18 cultivars. Sets vs seed yields, keeping quality, taste ratings and bolt resistance.
How to grow vegetables for showing in the UK. Covers NVS judging criteria, top show crops, bench presentation, timing harvest, and transport tips.
Grow borlotti beans in UK gardens for fresh shell beans or dried winter stores. Covers varieties, sowing, supports, harvesting, drying, and storage.
Grow corn salad in UK gardens for fresh winter salad leaves. Covers varieties, sowing times, shade tolerance, self-seeding, and cut-and-come-again harvest.
Grow mangetout and sugar snap peas in UK gardens. Covers the key differences, best varieties, sowing times, supports, pea moth timing, and picking tips.
Grow 14 perennial vegetables in UK gardens. Asparagus, rhubarb, sea kale, sorrel and more that crop year after year with less work than annuals.
How to grow salsify and scorzonera in UK gardens. Covers sowing, deep soil prep, harvesting after frost, cooking, and eating the spring chards.
How to grow sorrel in UK gardens. Covers common and French sorrel, sowing, shade tolerance, harvesting, cooking uses, and managing oxalic acid content.
Grow cucamelons (mouse melons) in UK gardens. Covers sowing, support, harvest timing, pickling, tuber storage, and companion planting for this fun crop.
Grow peach trees successfully in the UK. Covers fan training, peach leaf curl prevention, hand pollination, UK-hardy varieties, and container growing.
Grow tomatillos in UK gardens with this guide to sowing, cross-pollination, greenhouse growing, harvesting when the husk splits, and salsa verde recipes.
Best dwarf and compact vegetable varieties for UK patio pots, window boxes, and balconies. Named varieties, pot sizes, yields, and sowing dates.
UK guide to forcing crops for earlier harvests. Covers rhubarb, chicory, seakale, and early potatoes with timing, methods, and field-tested results.
UK guide to growing romanesco broccoli from seed. Covers sowing, transplanting, feeding, brassica pest control, varieties, and harvesting tips.
Learn how to grow endive in the UK. Covers curly frisee and broad-leaved escarole types, blanching for milder flavour, sowing times, and winter harvests.
How to grow marrow in the UK from seed to harvest. Covers sowing, spacing, feeding, giant marrow growing for shows, and storing marrows over winter.
Learn how to grow shallots in the UK from sets or seed. Covers varieties, planting, spacing, harvesting, curing, and storage for British gardens.
Best potato varieties for UK gardens ranked by yield, flavour, and blight resistance. First earlies, second earlies, and maincrops tested over 8 seasons.
UK guide to growing sweet peppers from seed. Covers best varieties, sowing with heat, greenhouse and outdoor growing, feeding, ripening, and harvesting.
Grow wild garlic (ramsons) in UK gardens from bulbs or seed. Planting guide, foraging rules, safe identification, and recipes from 6 years of trials.
Hungry gap crops to grow in spring for UK gardens. 15 vegetables and salads that produce from March to May, with sowing dates and yields.
Grow sprouts and microgreens on a UK windowsill year-round. Covers best varieties, step-by-step method, nutrition facts, and common mistakes.
Grow garlic chives in UK gardens with our guide to sowing seed, dividing clumps, container growing, harvesting leaves and edible flowers.
Learn how to grow globe artichokes in the UK. Covers best varieties, planting from seed and offsets, soil prep, harvest timing, and overwintering.
Practical guide to growing Jerusalem artichokes in UK gardens. Covers varieties, planting tubers, containment, harvesting through winter, and cooking tips.
Grow okra in a UK greenhouse with this expert guide. Covers varieties, sowing at 20-25C, pollination, pest control, and harvesting pods young.
UK guide to growing pak choi, mizuna, tatsoi, and Asian greens. Covers sowing, bolt prevention, containers, greenhouse growing, and year-round harvests.
Grow rocket in the UK from seed with this practical guide. Covers salad and wild varieties, sowing, bolt prevention, flea beetle control, and harvesting.
Swiss chard growing guide for UK gardens. Covers varieties, sowing times, cut-and-come-again harvesting, overwintering, containers, and cooking tips.
Grow your own wedding flowers in a UK garden. Covers best varieties, sowing times, conditioning tips, and a month-by-month cutting guide.
How to grow horseradish in UK gardens. Planting thongs, containing spread, harvesting roots, and making fresh horseradish sauce.
Practical guide to growing sweet potatoes in UK gardens. Covers variety choices, starting slips indoors, and harvest timing from trial data.
Guide to multi-sowing vegetables in the UK. Save time and space by sowing clusters of seeds in modules then planting out as clumps.
Best garlic varieties for UK gardens ranked by yield, flavour, and storage. Hardneck and softneck types compared from 5 seasons of allotment trials.
Practical guide to growing celery in UK gardens. Covers self-blanching and trench types, sowing, watering, blanching methods, best varieties, and problems.
A practical guide to growing French beans in UK gardens. Covers best varieties, sowing dates, supports, succession planting, and harvesting tips.
UK guide to growing chicory and radicchio. Covers forcing chicons, radicchio varieties, sowing times, winter hardiness to -10C, and harvesting methods.
20 unusual crops that thrive in UK gardens. From oca and yacon to cape gooseberries and shiso, tested growing advice from a Staffordshire grower.
Best blight-resistant tomato varieties for UK gardens. 11 tested cultivars with resistance ratings, yield data, and growing calendar.
Best tomato varieties UK: cherry, beefsteak, heritage, bush and cordon tested. Yield data and outdoor vs greenhouse advice from a Staffordshire grower.
Growing vegetables on a windowsill in the UK works year-round. 12 crops suit indoor light levels, from herbs and salad leaves to chillies and microgreens.
Grow fresh salad leaves all winter with a cold frame or unheated greenhouse. Frost-hardy varieties, sowing schedules, and harvesting tips for UK gardens.
Grow sprouts and shoots at home year-round. Mung beans ready in 3 days, pea shoots in 10. Tested methods, nutrition facts and troubleshooting.
Practical guide to growing carrots in UK gardens. Covers varieties, sowing times, soil prep, carrot fly prevention, containers, and storing your harvest.
Practical guide to growing cucumbers in the UK. Covers indoor and outdoor varieties, sowing times, training, feeding, watering, and common problems.
Practical guide to growing potatoes in British gardens. Covers seed selection, chitting, planting times, earthing up, harvesting, and storage.
How to use cloches and low tunnels to extend your UK growing season by 6-8 weeks. Materials, sizing, crops and month-by-month planting from field trials.
Simple seasonal recipes using UK-grown vegetables. Courgette fritters, runner bean chutney, beetroot soup and tomato sauce from your garden.
Practical guide to growing Brussels sprouts in UK gardens. Covers varieties, sowing, firm planting, staking, pest control, and frost harvesting.
Best easy vegetables for kids to grow in UK gardens. Covers 12 crops ranked by speed, fun factor, sowing times, and common mistakes parents make.
Everything you need to grow tomatoes in a British garden. Covers sowing times, variety selection, feeding, watering, and common problems for UK conditions.
Practical guide to growing onions in UK gardens. Covers sets vs seed, varieties, planting times, spacing, feeding, harvesting, curing, and storage.
Exact timing for sowing and planting tomatoes across UK regions. Covers indoor sowing, greenhouse planting, outdoor planting, and hardening off.
Complete UK sweet pea planting guide covering autumn and spring sowing, best varieties for scent and colour, and month-by-month growing calendar.
Grow microgreens at home in the UK. Best varieties, growing method, harvesting times and nutrition data from 4 years of indoor growing trials.
Plan crop rotation for your UK vegetable garden or allotment. Covers four-bed and three-bed systems, plant families, green manures, and record keeping.
Everything to sow and plant in June across UK gardens. Covers successional vegetables, winter brassicas, flowers, herbs, and late-season crops.
Complete UK guide to freezing garden fruit and vegetables. Blanching times, open-tray method, syrup packs, storage times, and defrosting safely.
Practical guide to growing peas in UK gardens. Covers varieties, sowing times, supporting plants, pea moth prevention, harvesting, and saving seed.
Everything to sow, plant, and harvest in August across UK gardens. Covers late vegetables, spring bulbs, fruit tasks, lawn prep, and peak harvest crops.
Learn square foot gardening for UK gardens with Mel's Mix adapted for British soil and climate. Covers grid spacing, costs, yields, and planting plans.
Practical guide to growing pumpkins and squash in UK gardens. Covers sowing, planting out, pollination, feeding, curing, and winter storage.
Complete UK guide to growing lettuce and salad leaves. Covers varieties, sowing, cut-and-come-again, succession planting, slug control, and winter crops.
Complete UK guide to growing spinach. Covers true spinach, perpetual spinach, varieties, succession sowing, bolting prevention, and container growing.
How to use green manures and cover crops in UK gardens. Sowing times, nitrogen fixation rates, and which species suit your soil type and season.
How to get an allotment in the UK, from council waiting lists to first-year planting. Covers plot sizes, costs, tools, layout, and what to grow first.
Practical guide to growing celeriac in UK gardens. Covers varieties, sowing indoors, transplanting, watering, side shoot removal, and winter storage.
Find out whether a greenhouse is worth it for your garden. Covers what grows better under glass, season extension, and cheaper alternatives for UK growers.
Complete UK guide to growing chilli peppers from seed. Covers varieties by heat level, sowing with heat mats, feeding, ripening, and overwintering.
Beginner guide to growing your own vegetables in the UK. Covers what to grow first, when to plant, soil prep, raised beds, and a month-by-month calendar.
Complete guide to growing rhubarb in UK gardens. Covers varieties, planting crowns, forcing for early stems, harvesting, dividing, and common mistakes.
Complete UK guide to growing turnips and swede. Covers varieties, sowing times, soil preparation, pest prevention, harvesting, and storing root crops.
Everything to sow and plant in July in UK gardens. Covers succession vegetables, autumn prep, biennial flowers, fruit care, and summer jobs.
The best tomato varieties for UK greenhouses. Covers cherry, beefsteak, and plum types with yield data, growing tips, and feeding advice.
When to plant potatoes across every UK region. Covers chitting dates, first earlies, second earlies, maincrops, and container timelines.
UK guide to preserving fruit and vegetables at home. Covers bottling, dehydrating, salting, oil preserving, vacuum packing, and safety rules.
Everything to sow, plant, and harvest in September across UK gardens. Covers spring bulbs, overwintering vegetables, lawn renovation, and autumn fruit.
How to grow vegetables in pots and containers in the UK. Covers best crops, pot sizes, compost, watering, feeding, and balcony and patio growing.
How to build and plant a raised bed garden in the UK. Covers materials, sizes, soil mix, what to grow, crop rotation, and year-round maintenance.
Grow food at home in the UK from garden to table. Covers easy crops, small-space growing, seasonal planning, cooking what you harvest, and saving money.
Practical guide to growing broad beans in UK gardens. Covers autumn and spring sowing, varieties, pinching out tips, blackfly control, and harvesting.
Everything to plant and sow in October across UK gardens. Covers garlic, tulips, bare-root trees, lawn care, and essential autumn jobs.
Plan succession sowing for a continuous harvest from March to October. Covers best crops, sowing intervals, and month-by-month UK schedules.
Everything to sow and plant in April across UK gardens. Covers vegetables, flowers, herbs, and fruit for indoor and outdoor growing.
Complete UK guide to growing runner beans. Covers best varieties, sowing indoors and out, building bean frames, watering for pod set, and harvesting tips.
Discover exactly when to plant broad beans across the UK. Covers autumn and spring sowing, best varieties, spacing, and regional timing advice.
Practical beginner's guide to allotment gardening in the UK. Crop rotation, soil improvement, best crops for yield, and how to get the most from your plot.
Companion planting guide for UK gardens. Covers the best plant pairings, what to avoid, pest control combos, and a planting chart for vegetables.
UK guide to growing fruit trees from apple and pear to plum, cherry, and fig. Rootstock choices, pruning, and the best varieties for British gardens.
The most productive vegetables to grow at home in the UK. Covers yield per square metre, beginner crops, containers, and a seasonal sowing plan.
Practical guide to growing radishes in UK gardens. Covers varieties, sowing times, succession planting, intercropping, containers, and winter types.
What to sow and plant in May across UK gardens. Vegetables, flowers, herbs, and fruit for greenhouse and outdoor beds, with regional timing.
UK guide to storing apples and pears long-term. Covers picking, wrapping, storage conditions, variety shelf life, rot prevention and ripening pears.
Complete guide to growing courgettes in the UK. Covers varieties, sowing, planting out, spacing, feeding, pollination, harvesting, and powdery mildew.
Month-by-month UK harvest calendar covering vegetables, fruit, and herbs. Know exactly when to pick each crop for the best flavour and yield.
Practical guide to growing parsnips in UK gardens. Covers varieties, seed viability, sowing times, soil prep, canker prevention, and frost harvesting.
Month-by-month greenhouse planting guide for UK gardeners. Covers what to sow, grow, and harvest in every month from January to December.
Six UK garden chutney recipes with exact measurements. Green tomato, apple, runner bean, courgette, plum, and beetroot chutneys from home-grown produce.
Month-by-month vegetable planting calendar for UK gardens. Sow, plant out, and harvest times for 26 common vegetables with regional adjustments.
Complete guide to growing spring onions in UK gardens. Covers varieties, succession sowing, overwintering, containers, intercropping, and harvesting.
Complete guide to growing vegetables in grow bags in the UK. Covers setup, best crops, watering, feeding, ring culture and grow bags vs raised beds.
Complete UK guide to growing asparagus. Covers best varieties, planting crowns, harvest timing, beetle control, and beds that crop for 20 years.
Practical guide to growing leeks in UK gardens. Covers varieties, sowing in modules, the dibber transplant method, earthing up, pests, and harvesting.
What to sow indoors, plant outdoors, and plan in January across UK gardens. Covers vegetables, flowers, bare-root trees, and essential winter jobs.
Learn exactly when to plant garlic across the UK. Covers autumn and spring timing, softneck and hardneck varieties, and regional planting windows.
A practical guide to growing garlic in British gardens. Covers softneck and hardneck types, autumn and spring planting, harvesting, curing, and storing.
UK guide to pickling and fermenting home-grown vegetables. Covers vinegar pickling, lacto-fermentation, salt ratios, equipment, and storage times.
What to sow, plant, and prune in February across UK gardens. Covers indoor sowings, outdoor crops, potato chitting, bare-root planting, and pruning tasks.
UK guide to growing sweetcorn. Covers varieties, block planting for pollination, sowing indoors, spacing, the shake test, and peak-sweetness harvesting.
What to sow and plant in March across UK gardens. Vegetables, flowers, herbs, and fruit for greenhouse and outdoor beds.
Month-by-month greenhouse growing calendar for UK gardeners. What to sow, grow, and harvest under glass every month from January to December.
Complete guide to growing pear trees in UK gardens. Covers rootstocks, varieties, planting, pruning, pollination groups, and harvesting tips.
Learn how to train fruit trees using espalier, fan, cordon, and step-over forms. UK pruning guide with rootstock advice, wire setup, and seasonal calendar.
Practical guide to growing beetroot in UK gardens. Covers varieties, sowing, spacing, succession planting, harvesting, storing, and eating the leaves.
Practical guide to growing kale in UK gardens. Covers varieties, sowing times, transplanting, pest netting, cut-and-come-again harvesting, and winter use.
Complete guide to growing cauliflower in UK gardens. Covers varieties, sowing times, soil prep, blanching curds, clubroot prevention, and harvesting.
Complete UK guide to growing aubergines from seed. Covers varieties, sowing with heat, greenhouse and container growing, feeding, and harvesting.
Practical guide to growing broccoli and calabrese in UK gardens. Covers varieties, sowing, transplanting, netting, clubroot, and side shoots.
Month-by-month seed sowing calendar for UK gardens. Covers vegetables, flowers, and herbs with indoor and outdoor timings for every month.