Herbs, vegetables, urban farming and connecting food to its source.
Nothing changes how you cook quite like growing some of your own ingredients. A pot of basil on a windowsill, a balcony tomato plant, or a few raised beds shift your relationship with food: you cook with what's ready, waste less, and taste varieties supermarkets never stock. This section covers food growing at every scale, from herbs in a flat to a productive vegetable garden.
Expect practical, season-aware guides: which herbs and vegetables give the best return for beginners, container growing and soil basics, sowing and harvest timing, and what to do with a glut. We connect the garden back to the kitchen throughout — because the point of growing food is, ultimately, eating it well.
Turn a windowsill into a productive herb garden. Learn the best varieties, light, soil, watering and harvesting techniques for fresh herbs indoors all year.
No garden needed. This beginner's guide covers containers, raised beds, easy crops, soil prep, sowing schedules and pest control for your first harvest.
Microgreens are nutrient-dense and easy to grow at home. This guide covers the best varieties, the nutrition science, the growing method, and how to use them.
A complete guide to growing tomatoes in containers, raised beds and open ground — varieties, feeding, troubleshooting and harvest tips.
A beginner-friendly guide to composting kitchen scraps and garden waste into rich, free compost — bins, ratios, troubleshooting and use.
A practical guide to growing salad leaves indoors and outdoors year-round — varieties, succession sowing, microgreens and troubleshooting.
A complete guide to growing fruit trees in small gardens — rootstocks, espalier training, pollination, pruning and harvest.
A complete guide to growing chillies from seed to harvest — varieties, feeding, troubleshooting, preserving and overwintering plants.
A practical guide to growing tomatoes in the UK's cool climate: variety choice, greenhouse vs outdoor growing, blight prevention, and stopping blossom end rot.
Grow herbs indoors year-round: which herbs genuinely thrive on a windowsill, light and drainage needs by species, harvesting technique, and why supermarket pots die fast.
Charles Dowding's no-dig method matches or beats conventional digging on yield while building soil health — the science, cardboard mulching, and best crops to grow.
A complete beginner's guide to home composting: hot vs cold methods, the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, greens and browns, what not to compost, and troubleshooting.
Fresh herbs transform cooking — and growing your own is far simpler than most people think. This guide covers everything: which herbs to start with, soil, watering, harvesting and preserving.
Tomatoes are the world's most popular home-grown vegetable. A sustainable agriculture expert walks through every stage: variety selection, soil preparation, planting, feeding, pruning and harvesting.
Garlic is one of the most rewarding crops for any home grower — planted in autumn, harvested in summer, and yielding far superior flavour to anything available in supermarkets. This guide covers everything from variety selection to curing.
Composting transforms food waste into the most valuable soil amendment available. This complete beginner's guide covers hot and cold composting, the right ingredients, troubleshooting common problems and using finished compost.
Fresh salad greens from your own growing space — even a windowsill — are one of the most accessible and rewarding food-growing projects. Here's how to grow lettuce, rocket, spinach and microgreens in any space, any season.
Chillies are one of the most rewarding crops to grow — hugely productive, surprisingly easy, and capable of producing varieties unavailable in any shop. A complete guide from seed starting to harvest and storage.
No garden? No problem. Tomatoes, peppers and courgettes thrive in containers — and produce abundantly when grown correctly. A complete guide to productive container veg growing on a balcony, patio or doorstep.
Salad leaves, radishes, courgettes (zucchini), runner beans, and potatoes are famously forgiving — fast to crop, tolerant of imperfect care, and productive in small spaces. Among herbs, mint, chives, and parsley are nearly indestructible. Start with a handful of crops you actually eat regularly rather than attempting everything in year one.
Absolutely. Containers on a balcony or patio can grow tomatoes, chillies, salad leaves, herbs, dwarf beans, and even potatoes in grow bags. The keys are pot size (bigger is more forgiving), good multipurpose compost, drainage holes, and consistent watering. A sunny windowsill alone supports basil, microgreens, and spring onions year-round.
Fruiting crops like tomatoes, peppers, and squash perform best with 6–8 hours of direct sun. Root vegetables manage with around 4–6 hours, while leafy greens — lettuce, spinach, chard, many herbs — tolerate partial shade and may even prefer it in hot summers, as shade slows bolting. Match the crop to your light rather than fighting it.
It depends on your climate and last frost date. In temperate regions, hardy crops like peas, broad beans, and salad leaves can be sown in early spring, while tender crops — tomatoes, courgettes, beans — go out after the last frost, often started indoors 4–6 weeks earlier. Autumn suits garlic and overwintering onions. Local frost dates are the anchor for everything.
