How to Grow Cucumbers Cucumber grows best in summer which is ideal since it is mostly eaten raw in salads at picnics and barbecues. Cucumbers grow on a vine which has large leaves which help to shade the fruit as they grow. The vine will spread over quite a large area or climb a trellis if one…
How to Grow Coriander Coriander, or ‘cilantro’ as the Americans call it, is a very popular herb used in Asian cooking and salads. It has a pungent, spicy flavour that some people love and some people hate. It really is a matter of taste. Coriander is a very fast growing plant and can be ready…
How to Grow Cauliflower A cauliflower, or ‘cauli’ for short, is made up of masses of tiny, creamy white stems called ‘curds’ that make this vegetable look like clouds although they aren’t that soft. Underneath are white edible stems and just like broccoli, these can be cut apart so that they look like trees. Cauliflowers don’t like the heat so…
How to Grow Capsicums Capsicums are from the same family as chillies but they are not hot or spicy at all. In fact, capsicums are quite sweet and some people will eat them just like apples. Americans call capsicums ‘sweet peppers’ or ‘bell peppers’ but they are all the same plant. Capsicums can be green, red, yellow…
How to Grow Cabbages Cabbages were first grown over 4000 years ago and now includes there are lots of varieties. ‘Space Saver’ is a great cabbage to grow in the backyard because it produces smaller cabbages and can be grown almost all year round. The large round cabbage in the centre is called the ‘head’ and will grow…
How to Grow Butternut Pumpkins Butternut pumpkins have an unusual bell shape and orange flesh that is sweeter and nuttier than other pumpkins which is why it is so popular. Like other pumpkins, butternuts grow on a vine which spreads across the ground or climbs up a trellis and has large, flat green leaves which…
How to Grow Broccoli Broccoli looks like a small tree with its thick trunk and pale green branches all covered with clumps of tightly packed flower buds. Each of these branches is called a floret and this is the part that we eat as a vegetable though the trunk is also delicious to eat. Broccoli is…
How to Grow BEETROOT Beetroot is a root vegetable meaning that the part that we eat is the deep red root that grows under the ground. The dark green leaves are quite attractive with their purple spine and veins and are also edible although the younger ones are the most tender. The red colour in beetroot…
A cloche is a cover that is used to protect young plants. Usually they are transparent but sometimes they are made out of terracotta clay. It’s a French word which means ‘bell’ which makes sense as many are a bell shape. To pronounce cloche say ‘klosh’ so that it rhymes with posh. Using a cloche…
A cloche is a cover that protects your seedlings from very cold weather in in winter or early spring. Find out more in our Garden Glossary. There are lots of ways that you can make a cloche at home or at school to protect your plants from the cold weather at night. Here are just…