The Beechgrove Garden 2022 episode 4: The Beechgrove team look ahead to a bumper crop of veggies across the coming season. Brian and Carole sow the seed they saved from last season’s heritage and contemporary varieties, and compare it with this year’s fresh seed. With the ground now warming up, George gets his carrots, spring onions and beetroot planted at the allotment in Joppa.
There is a report from an award-winning garden in Buckie from one of the growers Beechgrove is following across the summer, plus some handy hints on what you could be doing in your garden this weekend.
The Beechgrove Garden 2022 episode 4
How to grow carrots
Sweet, tasty and packed with vitamins, carrots are a traditional grow-your-own favourite. As well as the classic long orange roots, you can also grow small round carrots and even red, yellow or purple varieties. Carrots are straightforward to grow from seed, taking up little space, and can even be grown in containers. Sow small batches regularly from early spring onwards, for harvests almost all year round. Home-grown carrots may not always be as straight and uniform as supermarket carrots, but they taste so much better, so are well worth growing. If you make regular sowings, you can enjoy your own fresh, super-sweet carrots virtually throughout the year.
Carrots (Daucus carota) like a sun and light, well-drained soil. If your soil is stony, shallow or heavy clay, you may end up with stunted or forked carrots, so try short-rooted types or grow them in raised beds or containers. Carrots are drought resistant, so rarely need watering.
There are numerous varieties to choose from, for roots of various sizes and shapes. There are even different colours, including purple, white and yellow. Choose early varieties for sowing from early spring, then maincrop varieties for sowing from late spring through to mid-summer. Short- or round-rooted varieties are best for growing in stony or heavy soil, to avoid forking, and are also ideal for containers. Long-rooted varieties are suitable for deep, sandy soil. A few varieties may offer some resistance to carrot fly. For the most reliable varieties, look for those with an RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM), which means they have performed well in RHS growing trials. See Recommended varieties, below.
Beetroot
Beetroot are easy to grow, take up little space and are ideal for beginners. They’re also nutritious, delicious and versatile. Sow seeds little and often, for continuous cropping, harvesting when the roots are young, tender and the size of a golf ball. If you grow varieties for winter storage, it’s possible to have beetroot almost all year round.
Sow three seeds at 10cm (4in) spacings, 2.5cm (1in) deep, in rows 30cm (1ft) apart. Sow small batches at fortnightly intervals from March or April to July for a succession of tender, tasty roots. Choose bolt-resistant varieties for early sowings under cloches or fleece in late February or early March. You can sow without protection from late March onwards. Beetroot sown from June onwards can be stored for use in winter. Beetroot can be harvested from early summer through to mid-autumn, depending on sowing time and variety. Pull up alternate plants once the roots are golf ball size, leaving the rest to reach maturity if you wish. Harvest these when no larger than a cricket ball.
