This archive brings together practical, experience-led articles from The Backyard Farmer, covering gardening, DIY, indoor growing, foraging, reviews, and sustainable living. Each post is written with real-world use in mind — focusing on working with nature, building practical skills, and making sustainable choices more accessible.
Brussels sprouts are a classic winter crop, but they need a long growing season and plenty of space. For most UK growers, the key is to start them early enough, plant them into firm ground and give them room to develop properly. With steady growth
Cauliflower has a reputation for being one of the fussier brassicas, but most problems come from the same few things: poor timing, weak plants, interrupted growth, dry soil or pest damage. The key is choosing the right variety for the season, planting into fertile ground
The Quick Guide above gives a typical UK growing window for cabbage. Spring and winter cabbages follow different schedules, which are covered in their own guides. Cabbage grows well in the UK if you get three things right: timing, firm fertile soil, and early pest
UK frost dates vary more than you might expect. A sowing date that works in Cornwall or a sheltered garden may be too early for northern England, inland Wales, an exposed allotment or a frost pocket. Most gardeners checking the first or last frost date
Broccoli is a productive UK crop that grows best in fertile soil with steady moisture and plenty of room. This guide covers the large green-headed broccoli commonly grown in the UK, technically known as calabrese. Growing purple sprouting broccoli instead? Use the dedicated How to
Dwarf French beans are compact, quick to crop and easy to fit into UK gardens, allotments and containers. Most varieties stay around 30–45cm tall and, unlike climbing French beans, do not need a tall cane frame. The main thing is not to rush them. French
Runner beans are one of those crops that make you feel like you have got the hang of gardening when they take off. In a decent UK summer, they climb hard, fill out fast and keep cropping if you pick regularly. They are not quite
Peas are a straightforward crop to grow at home. Sow them at the right time, give them something to climb, and keep them watered while they flower and produce pods. Garden peas, mangetout and sugar snaps all grow in broadly the same way. Which Type
Introduction A healthy lawn still matters, but lawn care in hot weather is getting harder. A lawn still earns its place in plenty of gardens. It frames the space, gives children and dogs somewhere to play, softens hard landscaping, and generally makes everything feel more
May was the first proper month on the allotment, and looking back, it already feels like the plot has turned a corner. At the start, it was still more of a clearing job than a growing space. There were old beds to pull apart, weeds
I tried to avoid using garden netting for vegetable beds for a while. Not because I had anything against it. I just wanted the softer, more natural methods to work first. Like a lot of growers, I liked the idea of sorting pest problems with
Leeks are slow-growing, but they earn their place when the garden begins to empty later in the year. A well-grown row can provide reliable harvests for soups, stews, pies and roasts through autumn and winter. They are not difficult to grow in the UK, but