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Vegetables - Vegetables 1
Using home-grown vegetables is much tastier than shop-bought.

Vegetables - Vegetables 1

Growing veg is easier when you plan ahead. Explore how to choose a site, prepare soil, and keep plants productive, so you can harvest more with fewer problems.

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Fascinating Fact:

Crop rotation helps reduce pests and diseases building up in the soil. It also helps balance nutrient use from year to year.

Successful vegetable growing starts with the basics: light, water, and healthy soil. Most crops prefer an open, sunny position and soil that drains well but still holds moisture. Adding compost improves structure and feeds soil life, which helps roots grow strongly. Regular watering (especially in dry spells) and weeding early make a big difference to growth. It also helps to match plants to the season, sowing or planting at the right time so crops avoid stress and stay productive.

Key Terms

  • Hardening off: Gradually getting young plants used to outdoor conditions before planting them outside.
  • Bolting: When a plant rushes into flowering, often making leaves tougher or crops less tasty.
  • Raised bed: A planted area built above ground level, often filled with improved soil for better drainage and easier care.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What vegetables are easiest to grow for beginners in the UK?

Easy vegetables to start with in the UK include salad leaves, radishes, courgettes, runner beans, and potatoes. They grow quickly and cope well if conditions are not perfect.

How often should I water my vegetable plants?

Water deeply when the top few centimetres of soil feel dry, rather than giving small daily splashes. In hot or windy weather, containers and young plants usually need watering more often.

Why is my vegetable plant flowering instead of growing leaves?

A vegetable plant may flower early because of stress, such as heat, cold snaps, dry soil, or being left too long before harvesting. Keeping moisture steady and sowing at the right time helps.

Try These Related Quizzes

To see a larger image, click on the picture.
1 .
Which of the professionals listed beneath the picture would you expect to make use of the Capsicum plant?
Photograph courtesy of Eric Hunt
Accountant
Fireman
Pilot
Policeman
  • Latin Name: Capsicum annuum.
  • Large peppers (the type that are often stuffed with cheese, meat or tomatoes) are usually called 'bell peppers.
  • Bell peppers lack the chemical called capsaicin which gives the extremely hot taste to its close relatives the chili peppers.
  • Often grown in a glasshouse but in a sunny, sheltered spot outside they will usually produce a good crop.
Extracts from chili peppers are contained in aerosols known as pepper sprays which are used as a way of incapacitating a person
2 .
The underground, edible parts of the potato plant are correctly referred to as what?
Photograph courtesy of Fir0002/Flagstaffotos
Bulbs
Rhizomes
Stolons
Tubers
  • Latin Name: Solanum tuberosum
  • The devastating disease of potato blight was responsible for the Great Famine in Ireland in the mid 1800s and it resulted in approximately a million deaths.
  • 'Early varieties' are available in early June.
  • 'Second earlies' are eaten between late June and mid August.
  • 'Maincrops' are ready from mid-summer onwards and it is these that are stored for winter use.
  • Make sure you grow the right variety for the purpose you have in mind!
A tuber is an enlarged portion of underground stem. The eyes on potatoes are the nodes of the stem, capable of producing buds
3 .
Recipes for stuffed marrow usually involve stuffing the vegetable with what?
Photograph courtesy of www.flickr.com/photos/loopzilla/
Mixed vegetables
Cheese and onion
Rice and lentils
Minced meat
  • Genus: Cucurbita.
  • Courgettes are baby marrows.
  • One idea is to cut lots of courgettes in the early season and then leave one or two on each plant to develop into marrows for use in the late summer and autumn.
  • Marrows can grow up to a metre long but they are usually harvested when they reach about 30 cm.
  • Avoid soil that is very rich.
  • Hand pollinate the flowers if they are not setting well.
4 .
In which season is asparagus most often cropped and eaten in the UK?
Photograph courtesy of Ryan Freisling
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
  • Latin Name: Asparagus officinalis.
  • The succulent young shoots are a rich source of vitamins.
  • Delicious served as a starter with nothing else but butter.
  • In favourable conditions the shoots grow at the rate of 4cm per day!
  • Crop before the buds start 'ferning out' otherwise the spears will be woody.
  • Asparagus beds can be productive for 20 years or more.
  • Don't crop any spears in the first year after planting.
It is noted for being one of the first 'new season' vegetables. Cropping after late June depletes the plant of energy and reduces the size of the crop in the following year
5 .
What is the main problem with growing sprouting broccoli?
Needs very hot summers
Takes up a lot of space
Easily damaged by frost
Difficult to germinate seed
  • Latin Name: Brassica oleracea var. italica.
  • One vegetable that MUST be home-grown to be enjoyed at its best. It needs to be in the pot within an hour of picking!
  • It takes a long time to mature - plant one April and eat the next April.
  • Rated by many people as a delicacy to rival asparagus as the best tasting early spring vegetable.
It occupies space for an entire year and you get relatively little edible crop per square metre
6 .
What is the best type of soil in which to grow parsnips?
Photograph courtesy of Jonathunder
Heavy clay
Sandy
Stony
Peaty
  • Latin Name: Pastinaca sativa.
  • Similar to carrots but with a sweeter taste.
  • Many people believe that they should not be picked until they have had a frost on them.
  • In the UK they are often considered to be an important part of Christmas dinner and are best if roasted in goose fat.
  • Gaining popularity as a vegetable from which to make crisps - instead of using potatoes.
When they are not happy they produce short, distorted and forked roots
7 .
These are white and green varieties of what?
Photograph courtesy of Sanjay Acharya
Broad beans
Chick peas
Mung beans
Ricebeans
  • Latin Name: Cicer arietinum.
  • Sometimes called ceci bean or garbanzo bean.
  • It is believed that they have been cultivated in the Middle East for 7,500 years or more.
  • Can be cooked and eaten in salads or, more frequently, dried and ground into a flour for use in Indian dishes.
  • Grow in a warm position and irrigate frequently.
8 .
What is the name of this vegetable?
Photograph courtesy of Ted Major
Okra
Orca
Obro
Orbo
  • Latin Name: Abelmoschus esculentus.
  • Often called 'Ladies Fingers' or 'Gumbo'.
  • When cooked this vegetable often has a slimy texture but, if desired, this can be reduced by adding an acidic ingredient such as lemon juice or vinegar.
  • Often served stir-fried.
  • Preferably grow in a glasshouse throughout the life of the plant. If this is not possible then start inside and grow in a large pot until it is planted out.
9 .
Runner beans usually have red flowers and red seeds but what other colour of flower and seed is quite common?
Photograph courtesy of Shandchem
Green
Orange
Yellow
White
  • Latin Name: Phaseolus coccineus.
  • The soil for runner beans needs to be particularly well prepared by adding plenty of peat or well-rotted manure.
  • The slightest frost will kill young plants.
  • Often seen trained up canes that are made into the shape of a wigwam and tied together at the top.
  • Beans need to be cropped at least once every other day. Failure to do so results in less flowers and consequently less beans.
10 .
Tomatoes originated where?
Photograph courtesy of Ajith Chatie
Africa
Asia
Australia
South America
  • Latin Name: Solanum lycopersicum
  • Cherry tomatoes are small, round and sweet.
  • Beefsteaks are very large but with a short shelf life.
  • Plums are used in tomato sauce and paste.
  • Camparis are the sweetest and juiciest of all.
  • Varieties specially bred for outdoor growing can be expected to do well in British gardens.
Author:  Colin King
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