D.T. Brown Blog

Courgette plants will occasionally produce extremely bitter, inedible fruit with high levels of cucurbitacin. If this is eaten, it could make a person unwell. Read on to find out how to prevent bitter courgettes and additional essential information.

How To Grow Cabbage With a little planning it's possible to pick fresh cabbages just about every day of the year. Cabbages are divided - depending on when they're ready to use - into spring, summer and winter varieties. Spring greens are undeveloped spring cabbages and traditionally sown in summer but can be sown all year round. Savoys are a distinct type of winter cabbage. Sowing Sow thinly a half-inch (13mm) deep in a seed bed in rows 6in (15cm) apart. Thin to 3in (7.5cm) apart. Spring cabb...

Brassica plants are fully hardy and should be planted out as soon as possible after receipt. If the ground is not workable or, for some other reason, you have to delay planting for a few days, stand them upright in trays of moist compost and place them in a sheltered spot outdoors where they are in good light but out of direct sun. Take care to ensure they don’t dry out.

Onions and shallots are incredibly versatile vegetables for home cooking that are simple to grow and store well too. Discover how to grow onion and shallot sets with D.T. Brown today.

One of the most popular garden vegetables - and not surprising since the taste of fresh tomatoes from the vine is divine. There are numerous varieties from the small-fruited cherry types to the monster beefsteak forms; from the standard red to yellow, orange, green, purple and striped; from the standard tall cordon varieties to bush and even hanging basket types.

Dried peas, frozen peas and even freshly brought peas just can’t beat the flavour of freshly picked, home grown peas! It’s true, as soon as the pea is picked the sugars they contain start to turn to starch.

Broad beans are the first of the legumes to mature and there's nothing quite like shelling and eating the first crop of the year. But with successional spring sowings you can have broad beans from June into September. The flowers also have a delightful scent - an added bonus.

Even a small asparagus bed is a worthwhile, long-term investment, which will reward you with succulent spears early every summer for 10 years or more. It is also much easier to plant and to grow than many people think!