How to Grow

By far the nation's favourite grow your own vegetable. Carrots come in all different shapes, sizes and colours, from orange to the more unusual red, yellow and purple. By regular sowing you can have fresh carrots from mid May to March.

August can be one of the hottest months of the year, this makes watering essential. If water butts are running low, grey water can be used wherever possible. If August is holiday time for you, plans may be needed to enlist the help of friends and family to look after the garden when you are away.

The turnip seems to have become an unfashionable addition to the vegetable plot, but here in the Harrod Kitchen Garden, it has earned its place. Easy to grow, it provides delicious baby roots as well as peppery leaves for the salad bowl, all with very little effort required.

Cauliflower has a reputation of being tricky to grow. It is precisely this that makes them such a desirable crop in the Kitchen Garden. A good, successful cauliflower makes for a proud and satisfied Kitchen Gardener and makes the cauliflower taste all the better!

September is often a cooler, wetter month than August but as previous summers have shown this is not always the case and can often be glorious even if the days are becoming noticeably shorter.

Celery can be very tricky to grow. It will need good soil conditions and a constant supply of water. The smallest check will affect the final crop. A lot of effort, but worth it if you succeed. An immensely satisfying crop.

Although we had some cooler days in September autumn is now definitely here for real and it feels colder. It is a beautiful time of year with the trees changing colour.

Courgettes are easy to grow and will produce an abundance of fruits over Summer and into Autumn. Just one plant should produce 3 or 4 fruits a week. They do need a lot of space but smaller more compact varieties are available.

Leaves are falling all over the place and wind and rain are on the increase. Tender plants will need protecting from frost, gales and freezing rain. Move plants into a greenhouse or into a sheltered spot.