Advanced Vegetable Gardening

by Alan Titchmarsh

When you’ve cut your teeth – so to speak – on the usual radishes, lettuce, courgettes, carrots and perhaps a tub of tomatoes on the patio, most novice veg growers like to branch out into more exotic territory. And there’s plenty of scope.

A lot of veggies that are rather pricy to buy in the shops are surprisingly easy to grow at home; they’re often easier than some of the old-faithfuls that a lot of first-timers start with.

If you can grow courgettes, you can also grow pumpkins, squashes and vegetable spaghetti. The timing and method is exactly the same, so spread your wings. I specially suggest trying ‘Turk’s Turban’ (a beautiful orange, green and cream-spattered squash shaped like a cottage loaf that tastes like roast chestnuts when its baked in the oven) and ‘Crown Prince’ (the very best variety of all for making pumpkin soup). If you fancy growing the notoriously temperamental butternut squash, DO choose a variety that’s been bred for the British climate, and give it your best warm, sunny, sheltered spot – you should get a couple of squashes per plant, even in a ‘traditional’ summer.

If you can grow outdoor tomatoes, you’ll do even better under cover. A small greenhouse or walk-in poly tunnel will give you a growing season that’s a good two months longer than outside so you’ll pick far more fruit, and it gives you the opportunity to try unusual kinds that only grow well under cover. You’ll be able to enjoy white tomatoes, green tomatoes (‘Green Grape’ and ‘Green Zebra’ turn a shade lighter when ripe, and taste utterly delicious) and giant beefsteak tomatoes such as the American heirloom variety ‘Brandywine’ which some tom-fanciers consider the tastiest tom in the world. All beefsteak tomatoes take longer to ripen than normal-sized varieties, so they rarely have enough time outdoors.

Once you have a greenhouse or poly-tunnel, you’ll also succeed with sweet peppers, chillies and aubergines which are grown in exactly the same way as tomatoes; they really don’t do well outdoors in our climate, but they are really worthwhile under cover. And if there’s room, cucumbers produce a brilliant crop too; grow outdoor varieties since these do best without any extra heat, and don’t plant them till mid May – you’ll have all you can eat from June till October. You could grow the usual long straight green jobs, or try white-skinned cucumbers, round yellow lemon cucumbers such as ‘Crystal Apple’, and the bite-sized baby cucumbers which are ideal for packing in lunchboxes and picnics, or simply eating straight from the plant as a quick healthy snack.

If you can grow radishes and carrots, you can also grow gourmet root crops such as yellow, purple or white carrots, and golden beetroot – the variety is usually called simply ‘Golden’ or ‘Burpee’s Golden’, but the flavour is fab.

If you’ve always grown runner beans, give the French kind a go. Dwarf French beans do very well in a growing bag on the patio or a warm sheltered spot in the veg patch, while the tall varieties are incredibly productive grown up netting under cover – even several weeks out of season. And do try some of the colourful purple or golden kinds, and thin, tender, tasty pencil varieties.

For no more effort than you’d devote to common-or-garden veg you could grow something extra-special that’s good for you, has the family begging for more, and saves a fortune on gourmet treats at the shops. Everyone’s a winner.