Grow
Grow
Grow your own food in the UK climate. Vegetables, fruit and herbs, month by month, with the methods that actually work on British soil.
This is where we cover growing your own in the UK. Vegetables, fruit trees, herbs and mushrooms, whether you've got an allotment, a raised bed or a windowsill. Expect climate-matched varieties and a real month-by-month calendar, not the American canon of okra and melons that struggles here.
Britain's growing window runs roughly eight months end to end, nine in the south, and the crops that actually thrive here are the ones our grandparents grew because they had no choice. Potatoes, brassicas, peas, beans, alliums, and a wall of soft fruit. We've built guides around what genuinely works: raised beds for heavy clay, dwarfing rootstocks for a two-metre apple, and sowing dates that suit our wet springs rather than a Californian one.
Start here
New to this? These come first.
- Step 1Read guide
The easiest first vegetables to grow in the UK
- Step 2Read guide
No-dig on heavy British clay: the complete beginner's guide
- Step 3Read guide
How to Get an Allotment in the UK
- Step 4Read guide
Crop rotation in the UK: a simple beginner's guide
- Free toolOpen the tool
What to plant this month?
A month-by-month UK planting calendar. What to sow under cover, sow outdoors, plant out and harvest right now, for common vegetables. Adjust it for your own region.
Explore by area
Everything, sorted into areas.
- 23 guides
Growing Vegetables in the UK
Plain, practical guides to growing vegetables in the British climate. What to plant, when, and the small UK-specific tricks that get you eating from the garden eight months a year.
- 8 guides
Fruit & fruit trees
Grow your own fruit in the UK: apples, pears, plums and cherries. Practical, RHS-aligned guides on choosing, planting and picking, for gardens of any size.
- 8 guides
Herbs
Grow your own herbs in a British garden, windowsill or windowbox. Practical UK guides to the easiest culinary herbs, keeping them alive and drying the harvest.
- 2 guides
Soil & compost
Healthy soil grows healthy plants. Learn how to build, feed and protect your garden soil in the UK with practical composting, mulching and no-dig guides.
- 2 guides
No-dig & raised beds
How to build, fill and crop raised beds in the British climate. Timber choices, cheap fill strategies, and which vegetables suit shallow soil. Practical, UK-specific, beginner-friendly.
- 1 guide
Mushrooms
Grow edible mushrooms at home in the UK: the best beginner species, kits vs spawn, straw and log methods, ideal conditions and a clear safety note.
- 1 guide
Allotments
Everything about UK allotments: how to get a plot, what they cost, the rules and the law, plus honest advice on making the most of your patch of ground.
- 1 guide
Composting
Make your own compost, leaf mould and rich soil food from kitchen and garden waste. Practical UK composting guides for beginners and beyond.
- 1 guide
Seed saving
Learn seed saving in the UK: which crops to start with, F1 hybrid vs open-pollinated, and how to harvest, dry and store your own seed properly.
Growing Vegetables in the UK
Plain, practical guides to growing vegetables in the British climate. What to plant, when, and the small UK-specific tricks that get you eating from the garden eight months a year.
Fruit & fruit trees
Grow your own fruit in the UK: apples, pears, plums and cherries. Practical, RHS-aligned guides on choosing, planting and picking, for gardens of any size.
Soil & compost
Healthy soil grows healthy plants. Learn how to build, feed and protect your garden soil in the UK with practical composting, mulching and no-dig guides.
No-dig & raised beds
How to build, fill and crop raised beds in the British climate. Timber choices, cheap fill strategies, and which vegetables suit shallow soil. Practical, UK-specific, beginner-friendly.
Allotments
Everything about UK allotments: how to get a plot, what they cost, the rules and the law, plus honest advice on making the most of your patch of ground.
Composting
Make your own compost, leaf mould and rich soil food from kitchen and garden waste. Practical UK composting guides for beginners and beyond.
Seed saving
Learn seed saving in the UK: which crops to start with, F1 hybrid vs open-pollinated, and how to harvest, dry and store your own seed properly.
Free download
The UK grower's year, on one page
A month-by-month cheat-sheet of what to sow, plant out and harvest across mainland Britain. Print it, pin it to the shed door, and never miss a sowing window again.
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This month
On your patch now.
A rough guide for mainland Britain. Nudge it a week or two either way for your own region and season.
Sow
- Spring onions
- Winter salad leaves
- Kale & spring cabbage
- Turnips
Plant out
- Leeks
- Purple sprouting broccoli
- Runner beans
- Winter brassicas
Harvest
- Courgettes
- Broad beans
- New potatoes
- Blackcurrants
Kit we rate
The tools and equipment we'd actually buy ourselves. No sponsored placements, no filler. This shelf is being stocked.
We may earn a small commission on links above, at no extra cost to you. We only list kit we'd use ourselves. No sponsored placements.
Frequently asked questions
Sunday letter
Every step out of the system
One short email, weekly. The week's best guides, what to do on your patch, and the next small step out of the system.