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.
January still offers useful harvests from a UK vegetable garden or allotment. Leeks, Brussels sprouts, kale, winter cabbage, parsnips and swedes can all provide fresh vegetables, while Jerusalem artichokes and established winter salads may also remain available. Most of these crops were planted months earlier
December still offers plenty to harvest from a UK vegetable garden or allotment. Brussels sprouts, leeks, parsnips, swedes, kale and winter cabbage are among the main crops ready to pick, while established winter salads can provide smaller harvests. Many hardy vegetables can remain outdoors throughout
November brings the UK vegetable garden into its winter harvesting season. Leeks, Brussels sprouts, kale, parsnips and swedes are among the main crops ready to pick, while celeriac, winter cabbage and established leafy greens can continue providing fresh food. Some root vegetables are ready to
October is an important harvest month in the UK garden. Pumpkins and winter squash are reaching maturity, maincrop potatoes are being lifted for storage, and autumn vegetables such as leeks, kale, carrots and swedes are ready to pick. Some summer crops may still be producing
Pak choi is one of the quickest leafy vegetables you can grow in a UK garden or allotment. You can harvest baby leaves in around four weeks or allow plants to develop thick, crisp stems for stir-fries and other dishes. The biggest challenge is bolting,
Sweet potatoes can be grown successfully in the UK, including outdoors, but they need more warmth than ordinary potatoes to produce a worthwhile harvest. In warmer parts of Britain, a sunny, sheltered bed can produce good results. Further north, a greenhouse or polytunnel offers more
Sweet peppers need a long, warm growing season, making them difficult to grow outdoors in the UK, particularly further north. In my experience growing in the North West, an unheated greenhouse or polytunnel offers a much more reliable way to get a worthwhile harvest. The
Horse manure is a useful way to improve vegetable beds, adding organic matter and nutrients that support healthy soil. Autumn and winter are popular times to apply it, but that doesn’t mean every bed needs a fresh covering. At Backyard Farmer, I prefer to feed
Raspberries are one of the easiest soft fruits to grow in the UK. Once established, a healthy row can crop for years with relatively little work beyond pruning, mulching and keeping unwanted suckers under control. The main thing to get right is whether you’re growing
Shallots are probably my favourite onion to grow and eat, and they’re also one of the easiest to grow in the UK. Plant them 15–20cm apart in sunny, free-draining soil with the tip just showing. Spring is the safest planting time, although suitable varieties can
White patches on courgette, pumpkin and squash leaves are often one of two things: natural silver markings or powdery mildew. The easiest way to tell the difference is to look at where the white actually is. Natural markings look like they are in the leaf,
You can grow mushrooms indoors in an ordinary UK home without specialist equipment. For beginners, a ready-colonised grey oyster mushroom kit is one of the easiest places to start. You don’t need a garden or greenhouse. The main things to get right are moisture, fresh