What to grow ? — Humber Avenue Community Allotments
A simple list of the most common (and not so common) vegetables grown at Humber Allotments. The RHS is used as a growers guide throughout the website for references to maintain some consistency and the list below is from the RHS website.
Asparagus is easy to grow, producing tasty new shoots from mid-spring to early summer.
Aubergines are becoming increasingly popular, with the introduction of new cultivars with smaller fruits.
With beans grown for drying, the pods are allowed to fully ripen and dry out on the plant.
Beetroot are easy to grow, take up little space and are ideal for beginners.
Broad beans are easy to grow and low maintenance, providing crops from May onwards.
Broccoli is popular for its high vitamin content and anti-cancer agents. It’s a fast and easy-to-grow crop.
Brussels are a stalwart among winter vegetables and a traditional festive favourite.
Easy to grow, nutritious and tasty, cabbages are veg plot favourites. There are many different types.
Calabrese is a very easy, fast-growing crop, also known as American, Italian or green sprouting broccoli.
Sweet, tasty and packed with vitamins, carrots are a traditional grow-your-own favourite.
In the shops, cauliflowers are almost always creamy white, but grow your own and you can enjoy attractive and tasty curds.
The wild celery plant – from which cultivated varieties are selected – is found on boggy riversides and marshy ground.
Chard, or leaf beet, is an attractive vegetable, with leaf stalks in an array of bright colours.
There are three types of chicory.
Growing your own chilli peppers means you can choose from a huge array of colours, shapes, flavours and levels of heat.
Similar to traditional sprouting broccoli, this oriental vegetable has tender edible stems, leaves, buds and flowers.
Chinese cabbage is often sold as Chinese leaves. It is fast growing and can be ready for cutting in as little as six weeks.
Courgette plants are easy to grow and fruit abundantly – expect to pick three or four a week in good weather.
Home-grown cucumbers taste fabulous and can be grown in a greenhouse or in a warm sheltered site.
There are two types of endive: the upright Batavian or escarole with large broad leaves; and the curly or fringed leaves.
Florence fennel is grown for its swollen leaf bases or ‘bulbs’ and edible leaves.
French beans are delicious and easy to grow in the ground or in containers
A member of the onion family, this staple of Mediterranean cooking is simple to grow in a warm sunny site.
Jerusalem artichokes are easy-to-grow plants that need little attention and produce a large crop.
Enjoying a recent rise in popularity due to its superfood status, kale (or borecole) is easy to grow.
This strange-looking brassica resembles a Sputnik, but don’t let this put you off.
Leeks are tasty winter vegetables that are easy to grow, but do take some time and attention.
Lettuces are easy to grow and come in a wide range of colours, flavours and textures.
Marrows are easy to grow and provide a large harvest in a relatively short time.
Mizuna is a Japanese leafy vegetable that grows as a large rosette of feathery leaves.
Okra (also known as lady’s fingers and bhindi) is best grown under glass in the UK.
Onions are such a versatile vegetable – they feature in so many recipes.
Pak choi can be used in salads or stir-fries as baby leaves, or as a cooked vegetable in various Oriental dishes.
A roast dinner isn’t complete without roast parsnips – and they add a whole new dimension to stews and casseroles.
There’s nothing like the flavour of freshly picked peas – use them as quickly as possible after picking,
With their glossy fruits in an array of colours, shapes and sizes, sweet peppers are a vibrant and shapely addition to the table.
Potatoes are hugely versatile and a staple ingredient of many meals in one form or another.
Pumpkins are easy and fun to grow – just give them a sunny position, plenty of water and shelter.
Radishes are quick, easy and fun to grow from seed, ready to eat in as little as four weeks.
Rhubarb is an attractive hardy perennial with large leaves and pink, red or greenish leaf stalks.
Rocket is an easy-to-grow crop that adds a lovely peppery flavour to salads.
Runner beans are a delicious veg plot staple – they’re one of the easiest crops to grow.
It’s so quick and easy to grow your own salad leaves, even those exotic ones you see in the supermarket.
Salad or spring onions are easy to grow and take up little space, so can fit into even the smallest garden.
It is difficult to decide whether to grow this plant for its delicious, delicate tasting tap root or its flowers.
Low-maintenance and undemanding, shallots will produce a good crop in any well-drained, fertile soil in full sun.
Originating from South-East Asia, these beans usually need a long, hot summer of 20–30°C,
Spinach is tasty, nutritious and easy to grow. You can even enjoy harvests all year round if you grow several varieties.
Squashes come in a huge range of shapes and sizes, from massive pumpkins to tiny patty pans.
Swedes (short for Swedish turnips) are extremely hardy and do well in cool, damp climates.
Sweet potatoes are widely grown in warmer climes and are gaining popularity in the UK.
Sweetcorn is delicious steamed then eaten simply with a knob of butter, fresh from the garden.
Growing your own tomatoes is simple and just a couple of plants will reward you with plenty of delicious tomatoes.
This easy, compact and fast-growing vegetable is best sown little and often for harvesting across the seasons.