Vegetables for beginners: how to start

An ideal beginner crop, salad leaves (as opposed to hearted lettuce types) will continue to grow even after you’ve cut them – so you can go back for more after a few weeks (known as ‘cut-and-come-again’).

• Sow them in pots, raised beds or grow bags.

• Use scissors to cut them when they’re about 15cm high, and expect to be able to do this up to four times.

• There are plenty of colourful varieties – including peppery rocket and oak-leaf lettuce.

The crop for impatient gardeners! Radishes are often ready to eat in just a few weeks – especially in the summer. 

• With their big seeds, they’re easy to sow – do this little and often for regular harvests.

• Sow outside and keep them well watered.

• When they’re ready, pull them from the soil, wash, trim and eat.

Bush tomatoes are easier to grow than ‘cordon’ varieties (which need more support), and can be grown in pots, baskets or grow bags.

• Grow from seed inside between late January and March.

• Move outside to a sunny, sheltered spot (or greenhouse) in May.

• Leave them to grow – liquid feeding once the fruits have formed – and remove any foliage that’s blocking sunlight so the tomatoes can ripen.

There are three types of potato – first early, second early and main crop. And there’s a huge variety of potatoes for you to choose from.

• If you don’t have a lot of space, first and second earlies (‘new’ potatoes) can be grown in compost bags or in pots, and are best eaten fresh.

• Use rich soil or compost and water regularly when it’s warm.

• Don’t forget to keep ‘earthing up’ – covering new shoots with soil as they grow so that the potatoes have room to grow well covered with soil.

Once you’ve chosen your veggies, remember to:

If you want to grow herbs or salad leaves, opt for somewhere that’s partly in the shade. Otherwise, find somewhere that gets plenty of sun, but is also protected from wind and rain. Remember to prep the area by getting rid of weeds, adding manure or compost, and raking evenly. 

Crowding vegetables and plants together won’t work, so use available space wisely. Don’t have much room? Consider raised beds, pots and window boxes. There’s also the option of grow bags for plants that have shorter roots, like tomatoes.

You’re not the only one who’ll like the taste of your veggies – slugs and snails may do too. 

• Remove anything around your vegetable patch that pests can hide under (such as bricks and garden furniture).

• Lay a physical barrier, like self-adhesive copper tape, around pots and raised beds.

• Use a prickly barrier, such as crushed eggshells, around plants.

How much you water your vegetables depends on the individual crop. For example, salad leaves and tomatoes need a lot of water, whereas beetroot require water only before the soil dries out.