How can I grow my own food?
Free videos on how to grow food like tomatoes, onions, chard and more. What can you grow in spring and other seasons? Our expert gardener, Fabrice, has the answers.
Sign up for weekly videos on how and what to plant – including other growing and gardening tips.
Sign up for weekly videos on how and what to plant – including other growing and gardening tips.
What can I grow in spring?
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Week 11 (up to 4 April)
Faulty basil? Is your supermarket basil plant bursting out of its pot? It's 'thyme' to spring it from its cage. Tear/divide your densely packed plant. Pop each new bit into separate pots. And 'herb pesto', you'll have enough basil for an Italian cookbook. |
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Week 11 (up to 4 April)
Thyme for a haircut Growing thyme from seeds takes, well, a lot of time. The same is true for other herbs. And why bother? Just take a sprig, harvest the low-lying leaves, and pop it in a shallow glass of water. You'll be a cut above the rest... |
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Week 10 (22 - 28 Mar)
Nothing wet about this veg Have you heard the one about the farmer who didn't irrigate his vegetables? Probably not, because there wasn't a leek. These vegetables are even drier than my poor sense of humour. If you're not into mollycoddling your crop, these are the seeds for you. |
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Week 10 (22 - 28 Mar)
Sowing tomato seeds An easy technique that won't leave you looking redder than your crop. Spread seeds over the surface of your potted compost. Cover with more soil. Water and keep warm. When they sprout, give them plenty of light. |
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Week 10 (22 - 28 Mar)
Perfect windowsill tomatoes It sounds potty – and it is. You can pot these miniature tomatoes and stick them on a sunny windowsill. Unlike vine tomatoes, they're naturally compact. No need to even prune them. |
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Week 9 (14 - 21 Mar)
Beet the bolt Save your beetroot blushes. Plant an early season pro that won't go to seed prematurely... Bolthardy Beetroot. You really do need to thin this crop out if you want nice big beets – keep seedlings at least 15cm apart from each other. |
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Week 9 (14 - 21 Mar)
Early carrots and raddish You know, you really do reap what you sow. So get your patchwork in order – your veg patchwork. These hardy vegetables love to be planted side-by-side in rows, but make sure you get the spacing right. |
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Week 9 (14 - 21 Mar)
Top soil for spring planting Now the weather is milder, it's the perfect time to prepare your soil for action. Clear away the weeds and layer your compost on top. |
What can I grow in winter?
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Week 8 (7 - 13 Mar)
Pretty delicious Impress the love of your life and grow them some flowers. Make them presentable... then stick them between your 'tulips' and eat them. Please don't eat Tulips. But do eat violas, borage, nasturtiums and pot marigold. Use the jug for some wine to wash them down with. |
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Week 8 (7 - 13 Mar)
Tasteful pest control They're a blight on your happiness – a real bugbear. What if there was a natural way to get rid of those pesky pests eating your veggies? There is. Flowering herbs. Plant them in between your veg and watch them attract an army of pest-eating insects. |
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Week 8 (7 - 13 Mar)
Sweet success Tender, sweet, flowering shoots are appearing in Myatt's food growing area right now. From kale and cabbage to spinach. We snap these big flowering shoots for 2 reasons. One, they taste fantastic. And two, buds are left below the snapping point which give you a second crop. |
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Week 6 (22 - 28 Feb)
One potato, two potatoes... Fabrice goes more than skin-deep in this potato-planting masterclass. Learn about 3 different varieties – the quick growing Fast Early and Nicola potatoes, and the main crop potato called Cara. |
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Week 6 (22 - 28 Feb)
Potato chit chat Don't make a hash of growing potatoes. Remember to chit them first. Chitting potatoes means getting them to sprout before planting them. Fabrice tells you how to do it properly – and he even reveals how to spot the 'belly button' at the bottom of a potato. |
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Week 5 (15 - 21 Feb)
Rocket matters Spice up your salads with a good crop of peppery rocket in as little as 6 weeks. It's one of the easiest things to grow. Scatter the seeds densely on a patch of ground, pot or window box. This coming week is perfect timing, as we're about to get some mild winter weather in London. |
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Week 5 (15 - 21 Feb)
Get your finger on the pulses Peas and beans don't just give you muscle, they have a fair bit of it themselves. These hardy crops grow early in the year. Stick the beans straight in the ground, an inch deep. Pop the peas in modules. Sow them inside for a couple of weeks first. |
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Week 5 (15 - 21 Feb)
Chop-chop with the herbs That's right. The sooner you plant them, the bigger they will get and the earlier they will grow. See the daylight yet? As we approach mid-February, we're getting much more light. Plants will grow faster. Though it's best to start these herbs off indoors for the first month. |
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Week 4 (8 - 14 Feb)
Early rhubarb We're not far off rhubarb season. But the clever grower will still get their crumble quicker. Watch Fabrice turn a bucket into growing tip that will give you sweet shoots a few weeks early. |
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Week 4 (8 - 14 Feb)
Plant the right strawberries It might seem berry silly to be thinking of summer fruits right now. But seriously, this is the time to get planting. But be careful, as Fabrice explains in this video, some varieties don't flower in their first year. |
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Week 3 (1 - 7 Feb)
How to grow microgreens Growing microgreens like Radish leaf and sprouting pulses is another way of quickly getting green results in the winter. But where do you get the seed from? And how close together should you sprinkle them? Fabrice reveals all. |
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Week 3 (1 - 7 Feb)
Forcing winter roots Forcing is a neat gardening trick to get quick results. Watch Fabrice exaplin how to force fresh mint in just 6 weeks. You can also force cold winter roots like swedes and beet. |
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Week 3 (1 - 7 Feb)
Harvesting your winter greens How are your Mizuna, Pak Choi or other winter greens looking? Hopefully very green. You planted these back in October – or around that time. Let's see how Fabrice's plants are doing. |
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Week 2 (25 - 31 Jan)
Growing chillis Feeling the chill? No problem. It's time to bring out the chillis. Learn how to grow Scotch Bonnet and other varieties. |
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Week 1 (18 - 24 Jan)
Growing citrus fruits How to grow your own lemons, limes and oranges. You've heard of easy peel. Stick with Fabrice for easy grow. But make sure you get your fruit from the local market if you want to use the pips to grow your own. |
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Week 1 (18 - 24 Jan)
Growing ginger (part 1) Did you know there were different types of ginger? Lots of different types. |
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Week 1 (18 - 24 Jan)
Growing ginger (part 2) Top tip: organic ginger is more likely to sprout because it hasn't been sprayed with sprout inhibitors. |
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Week 1 (18 - 24 Jan)
Growing ginger (part 3) Top tip: when you're at the market, look out for ginger already starting to sprout – it'll save you hours of waiting. |
Growing tips from 2020
Growing from onion and garlic sets
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October 12-19
What is an onion set? And how do you get new garlic from old garlic? Spoiler alert: you'll want to make sure that you buy organic garlic. Learn to plant, and grow, onion and garlic sets – and find out how to avoid garden pests. |
Sowing broad beans and peas for overwintering
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October 12-19
Did you know that you can get a lovely crop of peas as early as the end of May? Find out how. Learn when and how to plant broad beans and peas over the winter period. If you're a local resident, come and pick some seeds up before the end of October. |
How to tell when a pumpkin is ripe
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Week 7 (5 – 12 October)
We're getting closer to Halloween and that tells us that we're coming into pumpkin season. But how do know when pumpkins and squash are ripe? Also, how do you harvest them? Plus some temperature tips when storing them. |
Onions and spring onions from seed
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Week 7 (5 – 12 October)
Sowing onions and spring onions, including the White Lisbon variety. Fabrice tells you how you can get hold of some seedlings. Though you'll need to swing by the park this Tuesday 6 October. |
Using old mushroom trays for winter salads
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Week 6 (up to 4 October)
This is a quick and cheap way to get your salad greens sprouting this winter. With tips on:
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The earliest lettuce of the year
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Week 6 (up to 4 October)
Learn which lettuces you can plant in winter. And find out how to protect your lettuce – including tips about planting, pests and the optimum environment to grow them in. |
Time to prepare spring cabbage
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Week 6 (up to 4 October)
Get planting spring cabbage seedlings. You can collect some from the park if you're a local resident. Email us. In this video, Fabrice tells you how to thin out your crop and when to start fertilising them. |
Collecting seeds for spring
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Week 5 (21 – 27 September)
How to collect and save seeds for spring planting, featuring:
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Land cress and watercress
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Week 5 (21 – 27 September)
What's the difference between land cress and watercress? Fabrice reveals all. |
Winter soil care
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Week 4 (14 – 20 September)
How to care for soil whether you're using large planters or open ground. Find out which 3 key things keep your soil fertile during the winter months. |
Planting spinach and rocket
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Week 4 (14 – 20 September)
How and when to plant spinach and salad rocket. Plus, what is the difference between normal spinach and perpetual spinach? Fabrice explains all. |
Using recycled containers to grow veg
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Week 3 (7 – 13 September)
How to use recycled containers to grow winter veg like:
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Planting Asian green crops
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Week 3 (7 – 13 September)
Also in this episode – plant spacing and intercropping. |
Perfect for pickling and blanching
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Week 3 (7 – 13 September)
Make some tasty pickles and dishes like kimchi with these Asian greens – perfect for the winter.
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Food to grow in winter
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Week 2 (1 – 7 September)
London still has 2 months of good growing weather. Tips on which seedlings to plant in the coming weeks:
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Herbs that grow very well over the winter
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Week 2 (1 – 7 September)
Three winter-hardy herbs that taste great:
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Growing late-planting salad leaves
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Week 1 (24 – 31 August)
Enjoy great tasting salads in the coming months:
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Growing late-planting roots
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Week 1 (24 – 31 August)
Easy-growing winter roots you've still got time to plant:
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More tips from Fabrice
More growing tips from our community gardener, Fabrice.
Would you like to volunteer in our beautiful park – and learn gardening skills at the same time? Find out more.
Get free growing tuition. Sign up for Fabrice's weekly videos.
Would you like to volunteer in our beautiful park – and learn gardening skills at the same time? Find out more.
Get free growing tuition. Sign up for Fabrice's weekly videos.
