Sow, Grow, Glow with BBC Good Food and BBC Gardeners' World

For growing advice from BBC Gardeners' World experts, plus tips for success and recipe inspiration, see the BBC Good Food magazine April issue. If you're looking for advice on eating with the seasons, see our monthly guides, created in collaboration with the team at BBC Gardeners' World:

What's in season in April

What's in season in May

What's in season in June

What's in season in July

Make sure to bookmark our seasonal calendar to keep track of what's at its best when, plus get lost in our seasonal recipe collections, where you'll find hundreds of ideas for cooking with homegrown produce.

April growing tips

PEAS AND BEANS

Podding peas and broad beans are legumes, which provide protein, making them particularly good for vegetarians. They’re exceptionally hardy, so if you sowed some last autumn, you could be gearing up for picking now. Just one seed can result in a large plant, producing masses of pods. And, as they grow upwards, they don’t take up much ground space for the harvest you get. Both podding peas and broad beans can be dried for easy storage in jars. To dry peas, leave them on the plant as long as possible, then cut off the pods and spread them out somewhere dry to split open. Or, shell the pods and freeze the contents after boiling for 1-2 mins so you’ll have plenty of extra-delicious peas to eat all year.

When to sow

This month is your last chance to sow broad beans until autumn, when you can start overwintering varieties. Peas have a long sowing season, from midwinter to midsummer, plus some varieties in autumn. Short cultivars of shelling peas are ideal for sowing direct in the soil now.

When to harvest

Peas sown now will take 12-14 weeks to mature to harvest, and broad beans take 12-16 weeks. By sowing in regular batches, you can eat fresh peas and broad beans from late spring to early autumn.

Varieties you won’t find in the supermarket

‘Imperial Green Longpod’ broad beans produce handsome pods up to 30cm long, while ‘Karmazyn’ produces high yields of tasty pink beans. ‘Blauwschokker’ peas neatly pack rows of tasty green peas into fat purple pods.

Alternative things to do with beans and peas

You can eat the young shoots of both fresh peas and broad beans, and you can also enjoy the immature pods of broad beans. Peas work well as sprouting seeds on the windowsill, too.

Other benefits

Both crops are thought to be good for soil, as they fix nitrogen into it, a nutrient that all plants need. Broad bean flowers can be black and white, red or pink. These are among the first crops to bring a vegetable plot back to life in spring.

Tips for success

• Spring-sown bean seeds are best germinated in modules to stop mice digging in and making a meal of them. By summer, when food is plentiful, it’s safe to sow them straight into the ground.
• Spraying water on bean flowers for pollination is a bit of a myth. To attract more pollinating insects, grow echinacea, sunflowers and zinnias in the veg patch – they make great cut flowers, too.
• Choose climbing French beans – they’re easy, crop well into autumn and are a perfect height for comfortable picking. My favourite are the tender, golden-podded beans called ‘Sunshine’.

Try our early peas & beans on toast recipe.

CUCUMBERS & GHERKINS

Why you should grow them

Cucumbers are among the crops that taste best when homegrown, as the flavour and sweetness of the fruits is notably different from shop-bought ones. Most cucumbers are climbing plants, meaning one seed produces a big crop from one plant that won’t take up much ground space.

When to sow

Sow cucumber seeds from early spring to early summer, ideally indoors (although they can be sown directly into the soil if started in June). Seeds need a minimum temperature of 20C to germinate, and the plants will not tolerate frost.

When to harvest

Harvest cucumbers from mid-summer to mid-autumn. Gherkins are ready about a month after the first cucumbers.

Varieties you won’t find in the greengrocers

Availability in the shops bears very little relation to the richness of options you can grow yourself. Decorative heirloom varieties include ‘Crystal Apple’ and ‘Crystal Lemon’, a climber with round, flavoursome yellow fruit that’s suitable for indoor and outdoor growing. For lunchboxes, try ‘Green Fingers’, short and smooth-skinned, or cucamelons (Melothria scabra) – tiny fruits that taste like a cucumber crossed with a lime. This plant is a new arrival on the UK veg-growing scene. For gherkins, grow ‘Venlo Pickling’, which can be preserved or eaten fresh, or ‘Patio Snacker’, a variety that’s compact enough to be grown in a pot. While most cucumbers grown at home are dark green, ‘White Wonder’ is creamy white all over and has a citrussy flavour. It’s one to grow outdoors and is a prolific cropper.

Alternative things to do with cucumbers

Train a traditional variety to cover a wall, with fruits forming on several sideshoots. For modern varieties, grow several plants up one large tripod, with a space in the centre for a little den. Try harvesting half a large cucumber, leaving the rest on the plant for later. Cucumbers are best stored in the refrigerator, but you can leave them in a jug with the stem end standing in a little water to make them last longer.

Other benefits

Cucumbers go from plot to plate faster than most other veg. Due to being held off the ground, they stay clean and they’re easy to cut and peel, so this is a crop that you’ll be strongly motivated to harvest.

Tips for success

• Cucumbers have a reputation of being a bit tricky to grow, but choosing the right variety can make all the difference. I recommend varieties suitable for both indoor and outdoor growing. Look out for ‘all female flowering’ on seed packets, as these will need little extra attention to produce delicious, sweet fruits.
• All cucurbits – especially cucumbers – are at risk of ‘damping off’. This is when the stem of the seedling rots away due to fungal disease. Avoid over-watering and, when planting out, it can be helpful to mound the earth slightly. This allows water to easily drain away from the stem.

Try our herby warm cucumbers with lemon recipe.

TOMATOES

Why you should grow them

Homegrown tomatoes taste better than shop-bought ones, as picking tomatoes fresh and keeping them at room temperature makes a big difference to flavour. Plus, growing methods can contribute to sweetness and depth of flavour.

When to sow

Sow this month. The plants will mature at the right time for planting once the risk of frost has passed.

When to harvest

Harvest tomatoes once they have developed their full colour, which is an indication they’re ripe. This will vary depending on the type of tomatoes you’re growing.

Varieties you won’t find in the green grocers

There is an increasingly wide choice of varieties in shops, but it will never match the diversity of varieties you can grow from seed, which include small cherry or currant tomatoes; big ones called beefsteak, oxheart or ‘Marmande’; and medium plum- or pear- shaped tomatoes. They also come in plenty of colours: red, orange, yellow, green, pink and black.

Alternative things to do with tomatoes

Tomato plants divide into three types: vine/cordon tomatoes, which are trained upwards with one main stem producing several fruiting sideshoots;
bush tomatoes, which don’t need training; and dwarf/patio tomatoes. It’s now possible to grow tomatoes in hanging baskets (the bush or patio types) which looks great and makes harvesting easy. Cordon tomatoes will grow a main stem several metres long if allowed, which makes an impressive decorative feature and produces masses of fruits. Try out different ways to preserve your crop when you get a glut. Oven- dried tomatoes are easy, while pan-cooked tomatoes reduce in volume and make a superb pasta sauce. If you have no time, bagging and freezing with zero preparation preserves the flavour until you can cook them later.

Other benefits

Tomatoes contain carotenoids in their skins, which are important for eye health. They also contain potassium and vitamin K.

Tips for success

• Use companion planting to enhance the flavour of tomatoes and keep pests off them. Basil is said to enhance the flavour, and marigolds prevent the attack of whitefly.
• Tomatoes fruit best in a sunny position. I often grow mine in pots and put them in the sunniest part of the garden. Just don’t forget to keep the water levels topped up in pots.
• Regularly stake (tie in) your tomato plants. Otherwise, they are prone to snapping if a big gust of wind comes along.

Try our one-pot tomato orzo recipe.

GLOBE ARTICHOKES & FENNEL

Why you should grow them

While it may seem like growing your own fennel and globe artichokes is a difficult task, it's actually simple – and they're both attractive additions to any veg plot. Florence (or bulb) fennel has pretty, feathery foliage, while globe artichoke plants produce huge, striking flowers and arching, deeply loved foliage.

When to sow

Florence fennel is a good source of Sow ‘Florence’ fennel now or in late summer. It has a tendency to bolt (start flowering and ruin the crop) if it dries out or the temperature suddenly drops, so keep seedlings cosy under fleece in cool weather. Ideally, start globe artichokes from offsets that are planted now. You can sow seed, but it takes longer for the plants to mature to flowering.

When to harvest

Harvest fennel bulbs about 12 weeks after sowing – these are the swollen bases of leaf stalks, and should be cut just above ground level. Cut artichoke flowers in late spring or early summer before the scales open. The bud scales have fleshy bases that can be scraped to remove the soft parts, and once you’ve pulled all of these off, you’ll reach the delicacy, which is the heart.

Varieties you won’t find in the supermarket

‘Perfection’ fennel is noted for its fine flavour, with strong aniseed notes. ‘Italian Purple’ globe artichokes produce handsome purple-budded flowers that can be eaten raw when they’re tiny, rather than the usual method of steaming or boiling them when mature. ‘Violetta di Chioggia’ is also particularly noted for its ornamental qualities.

Alternative uses

After cutting the main fennel bulb, secondary shoots will grow from the stump, which are good in salads. Bees love globe artichoke flowers once they’ve matured. If you leave one or two on the plant to develop, you’ll help your veg plot pollinators, and enjoy the sight of the glorious purple blooms.

Other benefits

Florence fennel is a good source of potassium, which helps maintain fluid volume. Globe artichokes contain inulin, a starch that’s good for your gut microbes.

Tips for success

• Look for new shoots at the base of older globe artichoke plants, and loosen by digging underneath with a spade. Pull these away with some roots attached to make a new plant.
• Don’t serve Jerusalem artichokes at dinner parties: they contain high-fibre inulin – great for your gut, but it can make you pass wind! Get around this by eating small quantities first and building up to larger amounts over time.

Try our deep-fried globe artichoke recipe.

SUMMER FRUITS

Why you should grow them

Soft fruits, such as raspberries, blackberries, currants, blueberries and strawberries, are easy to grow and among the best money-savers in the long run. Most will crop for years after being planted, so all you need to do is maintain the plant and harvest the crop.

When to start

Plant bushes, canes and strawberry runners now, and the sooner the better: they need to get their roots into the soil for a summer of growing. Cold-stored strawberry plants are available from March to July and will crop 60-90 days after planting. How soon your canes and bushes fruit after planting will depend on the plant’s maturity. If you plant now, you may find this year’s harvest is small, but next year’s should be better from your established plant. All of these plants are perennials, so they’ll be left in your veg plot over winter where they’ll go dormant, then sprout into life again in spring.

When to harvest

As soon as the fruits are ripe. Soft fruits taste best at that stage, and will spoil quickly if left on the plant. Picking just before full ripeness is one way to make harvested fruit last longer, but you will sacrifice flavour if you do that.

Varieties you won’t find in the supermarket

Alpine strawberries, loganberries, tayberries and boysenberries are more unique varieties. There are interesting colours to grow too, such as yellow raspberries, white strawberries and pink blueberries.

Alternative uses

Bush and cane fruits can be trained into decorative shapes to fill an awkward spot. Some, like red and white currants, are happy on a north-facing wall, too. Dry, freeze or liquidise any gluts you have, then use to decorate or flavour bakes.

Other benefits

Summer fruits are gateway crops for children. Most of us can’t resist picking straight from the plant, and that includes kids. The fruits are full of goodness, too. Blackcurrants are among the easiest to grow and contain vitamin C and micronutrients.

Tips for success

• Grow strawberries above ground in pots and raised beds. Hanging fruit is fully exposed to the sun, so it ripens faster, deters slugs and keeps both the plant and fruit aerated.
• Harvest currants on full stems. This eliminates the difficult job of pruning old wood in winter, when old and new wood looks similar.
• In its first year, newly planted (bare-root) blueberries should be given time to establish by removing all fruit buds. This sacrifice will result in bigger fruit from year two.

Try our summer fruits & elderflower fool recipe.

DILL, CHIVES, OREGANO, BASIL & TARRAGON

Why you should grow them

Most herbs are easy to grow. By growing your own, you have a ready supply for any recipe, and most herb plants are good-looking enough to grace a windowsill or back door for easily accessible harvests. Growing your own saves you several trips a year to the supermarket for uneconomical bagfuls with a short shelf-life.

When to sow

Buy rooted cuttings or young plants of French tarragon now to grow into larger plants. Russian tarragon and other herbs can all be started from seed now, too.

When to harvest

Pick herb leaves once the plant is established, nipping young growth from the ends of the shoots to encourage the plant to bush out more. For chives, use scissors to snip off a few shoots at the base.

Varieties you won’t find in the supermarket

Many herbs are available in colourful or variegated varieties. Try ‘Purple Ruffles’ basil or ‘Country Cream’ oregano.

Alternative uses

Herb flowers are often edible, and attract pollinators to the garden. Chive flowers look and taste good when in bud, while basil flowers (in purple or white) taste similar to the leaves, and make a good garnish or salad ingredient.

Other benefits

Dry herbs or freeze them in ice cubes to preserve over winter, when perennials will be dormant and annuals dead. Harvested and stored like this, you’ll get a very generous supply.

May growing tips

SALAD & RADISHES

Why you should grow them

Salad leaves and radishes grow quickly, and summer, so they are among the most satisfying things to sow and great for growing with children. As well as lettuce, other leafy veg suitable for salad include corn salad, land cress, mustard, rocket, chicory, mizuna and purslanes. These are unfussy about situation, so good for beds and containers, indoors or outside. Lettuces grow as heads or loose leaves. Heads can be harvested whole, but you can peel away a few outer leaves before that. Heads need wide spacing to mature.

When to sow

Sow any time this month or next, but ideally in several small batches to have crops maturing at different times. Buy salad leaf seed mixes, where several different types are in the same packet, or you can make up your own mix, combining different favourites and scattering them together. If you have several part-used packets, store them in a tin somewhere cool and dry.

When to harvest

Radishes are ready four weeks after sowing in summer and you should harvest as soon as they’re big enough to eat, as they quickly become woody and unpalatable. For salad leaves, pick as baby or mature leaves, but before the plants start to bolt (go to flower). The older they get, the more flavour they develop, so bitterness in lettuces and heat in mustards may ruin the flavour. If growing cut-and-come-again salad crops, snip off leaves and let the plant regrow for more cropping from the same stump.

Varieties you won't find in the supermarket

Rat’s tail radishes are left to flower so their seedpods can be harvested. Crunchy and spicy, add to a salad or stir-fry. Summer purslane is a drought-tolerant succulent with leaves for salads or steaming that taste slightly sour and salty. For red salad leaves, grow Giant Red mustard or Batavia Red lettuce.

Other benefits

Radishes and brassica salad leaves like mustard contain a compound that the body converts to sulforaphane, which protects against cancer. Lettuces contain extracts that promote sleep, as
well as vitamins A, C, K and iron.

Tips for success

• Instead of cut-and-come-again, space lettuce at 20cm and keep picking the outer and larger leaves for a harvest period of several weeks from each plant.
• Give radishes plenty of water to reduce their pungency. You can multi-sow in small module cells with five seeds per cell for planting after two weeks; this reduces flea beetle damage to small leaves.
• The best time to sow salad rocket, mustards and pak choi is early August, to avoid the worst of flea beetles and give harvests all through autumn, when these plants are less inclined to flower.

Try our radish, burrata & nasturtium flower salad with crispy quinoa.

SUMMER SQUASHES & COURGETTES

When to sow

Sow this month or next, either indoors in pots, or outdoors if your soil is warm. If sowing indoors, plant the seedlings out once the risk of frost has passed. Seeds will not germinate below 13C. The plants grow quickly and keep producing fruits until exhaustion or cold weather slows them down. They are annuals, so won’t survive winter.

When to harvest

Courgettes and summer squashes are ready about eight weeks after sowing and are harvested young once the flowers have fallen off, when they have soft skin and undeveloped seeds. Cutting off the fruits helps the plant develop more. Eat straightaway as they don’t store for long, although freezing is possible after blanching slices.

Various you won't find in the supermarket

‘Jemmer’ courgettes produce long yellow fruits and ‘Eight Ball’, round green ones, useful for stuffing. Patty pan squashes, like ‘Sunburst’, have attractive scalloped rings and come the final third of the stock, add all but in dark, light green and yellow. Spaghetti squashes have flesh that, scooped out, looks like spaghetti.

Alternative uses

Eat the flowers stuffed or fried. Male flowers are good for this, as they will not form fruits: they lack the small swelling you can see behind female flowers. The fruits contain vitamins A and C,
magnesium and niacin.

Tips for success

• Summer squashes and courgettes need a lot of water and regular feeding, but make sure you water at the base of the plant to avoid getting the leaves wet. This helps to prevent some common diseases found on these plants.
• As soon as you see signs of powdery mildew or mould, remove these leaves as soon as you can to prevent it from spreading.
• Plant flowers or flowering herbs close to your plants. This will help attract bees towards your squash and courgette plants to ensure they get full pollination, resulting in the best crop. Some recommendations are borage, cornflower and calendula.

Make our summer squash risotto.

LATE-SUMMER PEAS & BEANS (Mangetout, runner & French beans)

Why you should grow them

Beans (particularly French) are ornamental crops, with the tall climbing varieties prettily covering archways or trellises. There are tall and short peas and beans suitable for any growing space, and they’re useful in crop-rotation schemes. Pea and bean crops are great for storing, as they freeze well while French bean seeds (the beans rather than the pods) can be dried and used, rehydrated, over winter. They retain many of their wide range of health benefits after storage, too.

When to sow

Sow this month or next, either straight into the soil or small pots in a well-lit spot under cover. French and runner beans need 12C to germinate, while peas only need 5C. A cool, damp summer suits peas, while French and runner beans thrive in warmth, although they also need plenty of water.

When to harvest

Picking all of these crops young is key to flavour. Eat the whole pod unless you’re growing French beans to shell as flageolets or store as haricot beans. Be vigilant with harvesting, both to get the pods at their tender best, and to keep the plants productive. These are annual plants, so they die after flowering and fruiting (making pods), but frequent picking keeps them young. Peas can be eaten raw, while beans should be cooked.

Varieties you won't find in the supermarket

‘Shiraz’ peas have attractive bi-coloured flowers followed by beautiful purple mangetout pods. Serve them raw to show off the colour as it changes to green during cooking. ‘Liberty’ runner bean produces beans up to 50cm long, and French bean seeds come in a wide range of pod colours: green with red flecks, yellow, purple, burgundy and green.

Other benefits

Peas and beans are rich in fibre and protein, and have a low glycaemic index. Peas contain high levels of vitamins B and C, plus magnesium Green beans are rich in vitamins E and K.

Tips for success

• Sowing ‘dry’ peas can attract rodents to feast on the seed, even when sown in greenhouses. Soaking overnight makes them swollen and unattractive for pests to feed on. Swollen seeds indicate viability for successful germination.
• Grow nasturtium flowers as companion plants with French beans. The nasturtium scent attracts black bean aphids, distracting them from the tender shoots of French bean plants. Plus, the young nasturtium seed pods make a delicious alternative to capers.
• Maturing dried French beans can be saved to use in winter stews. When saving beans, put all dried seeds in the freezer for 24 hrs prior to storing in sealed jars. These freezing conditions will kill any hibernating bean weevil larvae within the beans.

Make our green beans with lemon & parmesan recipe.

June growing tips

GOOSEBERRIES

Grow gooseberries in moist but well-drained, fertile soil, in full sun. Prune the bushes to maintain a ‘goblet’ shape, and mulch in autumn with compost, manure or leaf mould. Plant bare-root gooseberries in spring or autumn.

Most gooseberries are ready to pick from June to August, but to ensure good-sized berries, thin out the bunches earlier, when the fruits are the size of a pea. These thinned-out fruits are great for stewing.

Make our gooseberry buckle cake.

ASPARAGUS

Asparagus grows best in light, well-drained soil. If you have heavy soil, create a raised bed. Choose an open, sunny spot that’s prepared with organic matter and is free from weeds.

Asparagus can be raised from seed, but it’s best to plant year-old dormant ‘crowns’ in March. (Some varieties can be planted in autumn.) Ensure newly planted crowns are well-watered and weed-free. Let them develop plenty of foliage so they can become established. Don’t harvest asparagus in the first two years – harvesting before the third season will weaken the plants.

Try our salmon & asparagus one-pot gratin.

RHUBARB

Rhubarb is easy to grow, producing masses of stalks each year. Plant rhubarb from October to April, and harvest from March to July. Plant in fertile, free-draining soil with organic matter, such as horse manure, and allow plenty of space around the plant so it can spread out. Despite being a stem, rhubarb is eaten like a fruit, and yields an early crop. By forcing rhubarb in late winter, you can be harvesting stalks as early as March.

Only the stalks are edible – never eat the leaves, as these are extremely poisonous (you can, however, compost them).

Make a batch of our rhubarb vodka.

What else is great to grow in June?

Pak Choi

This leafy vegetable provides crisp texture and fresh taste to salads and stir-fries. It’s similar in taste to a cross between cabbage and spinach. Sow direct in shallow drills or pots. This is also a good time to plant out young pak choi sown last month.

Spring onions

These can be sown from March to August, followed by successional sowings every few weeks to ensure a continuous crop. Sow direct into shallow drills – spring onions also do well in pots, but they do need a lot of moisture.

Broccoli

Late sprouting broccoli cultivars and calabrese can be sown in June. Sow direct in well-prepared soil or multi-celled trays to plant out later. You can now also plant out broccoli and calabrese plants sown last month.

Kohlrabi

With a swollen stem, kohlrabi is a brassica that’s eaten like a turnip. It brings a cabbage-like note to dishes, and has a nutty flavour if eaten raw. Sow rows of kohlrabi direct into the soil fortnightly from now until autumn. Thin the plants to around 8cm apart, and water well for a succulent harvest around eight weeks after sowing.

Pumpkins

Early June is your last chance to sow pumpkins, to ensure they have plenty of warm days to develop in size and flavour. Remember to choose your seeds wisely: large pumpkin cultivars are often bred for size alone, so if you’re growing pumpkins to eat, choose one with good flavour. Sow direct into fertile soil or individual pots to plant out later.

July growing tips

COURGETTES

How to grow courgettes

Buy young courgettes at the garden centre in late spring, or sow courgette seeds indoors in April or May in pots of peat-free, multi-purpose compost. Pot on seedlings when they’re big enough to handle, and plant young plants outside when the risk of frost has passed. Or, sow seeds directly outside in late May or early June. Courgettes are hungry plants, so they do well when grown in soil enriched with plenty of well-rotted horse manure or compost and fed weekly with a high-potash feed, such as tomato food. Water the plants regularly to keep the soil moist and harvest courgettes when they’re about 10cm long.

Use courgettes to make a batch of gooey chocolate courgette brownies.

How to harvest courgettes

Cut courgettes while small (about 10cm long is ideal), rather than leaving them to grow to the size of marrows – this will encourage more courgettes to develop over a longer period. Cut them off at the base with a sharp knife, or twist the stalk sharply.

For a filling family dinner, try our courgette & sausage timballo.

Plan ahead - Jobs to do each month

• April or May: sow seeds indoors
• April to May: pot on seedlings indoors
• Late May to early June: sow seeds outdoors for a late crop
• May to June: plant out young plants
• July to October: harvest fruits seasonal

Courgettes are easy to grow and highly productive plants, bearing masses of delicious, nutty crops for use in summer dishes and salads. They’re prolific croppers and take up a lot of space, so just two or three plants are enough to feed a family, with some left over. You can buy young courgette plants at the garden centre in late spring, but they are easy to grow from seed.

Why not try our courgette jam recipe with your garden glut?

What else is great to grow in July?

• Pea: Hurst Green Shaft an excellent main crop variety, reaching 1m in height, with each pod carrying up to nine peas. Direct-sow against a sturdy bamboo support structure, and keep the area well watered and protected from birds, as the emerging tender pea shoots are a target. Pea pods are ready to harvest by late August. Use fresh, or freeze for later.
• Swiss chard: Bright Lights makes a quick salad crop, with the thinning of seedlings spaced 20cm apart to encourage bigger plants. Larger leaves will provide colourful greens for hearty stews. Prep the soil by scattering in fish blood and bone, and sow seeds liberally in 3cm deep drills.
• Outdoors until the worst of the autumn weather arrives. A cool, sheltered area, such as an unheated greenhouse, will allow plants to continue growing. They’re a wonderful spicy addition to winter salads and stir-fries.