Want to grow your own?

What veg crops should I grow in 2021? Experts offer a beginner’s guide.

If you began growing veg in a small way during the pandemic and feel like spreading your wings, now’s the time to be planning ahead. Weather and soil conditions allowing, you could be creating a new veg patch, choosing the seeds you want to sow and thinking about what you want to eat in the coming year.

“Always try to set aside more space than you think you need. Growing your own vegetables is really rewarding, so the more you do, the more you want to do and the more space you’ll need,” says Pippa Greenwood, a Gardeners’ Question Time regular panellist.

While ‘no-dig’ gardening author and YouTuber Charles Dowding, suggests budding growers consider focussing on one or two beds, full of good compost, rather than a larger area with less fertility.

WHERE SHALL I GROW MY VEG?

“A spot in full sun or one which gets plenty of sun for most of the day during the summer months is ideal. Plenty of natural light and the warmth of the sunshine make it much easier to grow the widest possible range of vegetables and to have the best results,” says Pippa.

Charles adds: “There also needs to be a few trees or bushes nearby, otherwise your plants suffer lack of moisture in summer. Allotments are easier from this point of view, compared to many back gardens.”

WHAT ARE THE SOIL REQUIREMENTS?

“Veg plants have different needs, but on the whole a soil which holds water fairly well (so is not too sandy and light) but which is also well-drained (so not too clay) is ideal,” Pippa advises.

“Incorporating plenty of well-rotted manure, garden compost or other bulky organic matter will improve most soils. Many veg can be grown in large containers if garden space is in short supply.”

Charles supports the ‘no dig’ method, arguing the best way to create soil fertility is laying compost on top of the existing surface.

“The most effective mulch of surface food is compost, because it’s a ‘ready meal’ for soil life, with high value per volume. Compost and organic mulches do not feed plants directly: rather, they feed soil life, whose excretions (think worm casts) are rich in food.

“The best thing you can do to improve any soil is not to dig or rotovate. This allows the natural biology to continue working uninterruptedly.”

WHAT SHALL I GROW?

“The most important thing is to grow what you want to eat, not what someone says you should grow,” Pippa advises.

“I’d suggest growing some vegetables from young plants and raising some from seed. You might include courgettes, butternut squash, pumpkins, lettuce and salad leaves, sweetcorn, runner and climbing French beans, tomatoes, potatoes, onions and garlic.

“Peppers and chilli peppers are fun too, but you do need a really warm spot or better still, a greenhouse or porch, and these are a crop I’d recommend growing from plants. Crops like carrots, spinach and rocket are definitely best raised from seed as I find they often don’t transplant well.”

“Salad leaves give the highest yield per area and are among the fastest vegetables between sowing and first harvests. Potatoes grow easily and crop quickly, especially first and second earlies.

“On the same day as you pull potatoes, plant leeks and beetroot,” suggests Charles.

HOW DO I AVOID PITFALLS?

“Think about quantities – you only need enough veg to eat yourself/for your family, some to give to friends and in some cases, some to freeze. You don’t want a whole row of say, courgettes, or else you’ll end up wasting so many,” says Pippa.

“Don’t plant veg out too early unless you know they are really hardy. Most summer veg are best planted outside in May, but watch the weather!

“It is easy to be tempted into buying veg plants you’ll see for sale in March and April, don’t succumb.”

Garden experts Pippa Greenwood and Charles Dowding