Growing your own vegetables is fun and rewarding. At Coolings many of our staff have lots of first hand experience cultivating veg and are happy to offer their advice to customers. Here, one of our plant area team tell us about his favourite crops.

Our Plant Manager, Jon Reburn says…

I have grown vegetables ever since I was a child learning from my Grandfather who was an avid traditional gardener. There is nothing better than picking food fresh from the garden!

Carrots
The taste of a carrot pulled fresh from the ground cannot be matched by anything shop bought. I grow Flyaway from seed thinly sown in short rows (to avoid thinning which attracts carrot fly). Never buy carrots as young plants as transplanting them can attract the attention of carrot fly.

Pumpkins
Really easy to grow but they need space, lots of water and plenty of good compost in the hole when you plant them. Fun for Halloween and delicious roasted or in soup.

Radish Mooli
Gardeners never stop learning and last year I tried growing them for the first time. They make a fantastic late season crop and the delicious long white radishes are great in
stir-fry or stews! Grow from seed (try Suttons Radish Mooli Seeds – £2.49 a pack).

Beetroot
The sweet taste of homegrown beetroot is one of summer’s pleasures. Make life easy and buy as young plants – they transplant well.

Runner Beans
Really worth growing as they taste so much better picked fresh. Grown up a wigwam of garden canes they could be grown in any garden. If it is hot, mist the flowers with water to help the beans to set.

Sweetcorn
Homegrown sweetcorn fresh from the cob is yummy! Grow the plants in blocks not rows as pollination and thus cropping, is better.

Courgettes
Tasty, easy to grow and useful in so many vegetarian recipes!

Spicy Salad Mix
Salad is so easy to grow. I think the mixed leaved salad is such a good choice to grow and perfect for beginners.