Vibrant veg growing blogs

If growing veg is your thing, you’ll love our selection of some of the best vibrant veg growing blogs around. From ingenious folk who garden the smallest of plots, to budding self-sufficiency enthusiasts and smallholders, here we present some of the very best online diaries from the most prolific and knowledgeable gardeners you’ll find anywhere.

Plot 7 Marsh Lane

Looking for a way to stop your newly planted broad beans from becoming mouse food? Take a look at the plastic bottle cloches the guys at Plot 7 Marsh Lane use to protect theirs from hungry rodents. Just one of a host of little tips and tidbits for fellow gardeners and allotmenteers, this blog is also full of tasty recipes to use up all that healthy food you grow.

Beginning in 2017, Belinda at Plot 7 began naming blog posts after popular and not so well known songs, turning this excellent veg-growing blog into a defacto playlist too. As she says, “a little extra music in our lives can’t be a bad thing.” Songs ranging from reasons to be Cheerful, to Light My Fire, will certainly ignite your curiosity.

Our Smallholding Adventure

How many potatoes is enough to last a family of four for a year? Tracy of Our Smallholding Adventure reckons 130kg, which she says doesn’t seem like too ambitious a growing project. Check out her spud-growing campaign plan to find out what she’s planning to grow in the pair of 75ft long rows she’ll plant up in the spring.

If you’ve always wanted to have a shot at ‘The Good Life’ style self-sufficiency, this is an excellent blog to turn to for info, advice, and inspiration. In 2016, Steven, Tracy and their two children moved to their smallholding and while they must still work, they’re determined to get there in the end. As Tracy says, while they fight the constant battle to protect their young veg and livestock from predators, “We won’t be beaten!”

The Backyard Larder

If you want to try your hand at growing something a little different, take a tip from the guys at The Backyard Larder who’re fast becoming expert skirret growers. This starchy root has been around in Europe since at least Roman times and was a favourite of Emperor Tiberius’ – it also tastes delicious.

The Backyard Larder grew from Alison Tindale’s fascination with growing perennial veg. A superb option for growers who like to be able to go back for more year after year, this excellent blog is full of planting ideas. New to perennial veg? Alison posts a great selection including sea beet, globe artichokes, the asturian tree cabbage, and much more.

Carrot Tops Allotment

A thick, tasty, warming autumn/winter soup is the perfect meal to fend off seasonal chills and to use up the produce from your garden or allotment. If you’re looking for a top recipe, do check out Adam Leone’s version of this traditional dish. It’s super simple to make and, as Adam says, it’s “hearty, healthy and generally just very lovely”.

Carrot Tops Allotment is the story of a genuinely superb allotment in Tolworth South West London. And, not only will you be able to follow Adam’s growing exploits, but he also invites your questions, creating a very useful gardening resource for all. How much veg do you need to grow to feed a family of four for a year? Check out Adam’s answer.

English Homestead

How big is the biggest tomato you’ve ever grown? Kev has, we think you’ll agree, grown a real beauty here! Check out his blog, the English Homestead, to see just how much it weighed – you’ll be amazed. Speaking of tomatoes, do make sure to take a look at Kev’s simple tomato sauce recipe too – making it is a great way to get kids involved in the kitchen.

Born and raised on a Shropshire farm, Kev Alviti is now a carpenter, stay at home dad, and smallholder who loves to grow as much of his family’s food as possible. If you’re interested in getting the most out of larger harvests and avoiding waste, Kev’s got some great tips on getting the whole family involved in preserving your crops.

Self-sufficient in Suburbia

Wondering what to do with late tomatoes? If like Jonathan of Self-sufficient in Suburbia, yours are all green, you might like to try making your own version of his spicy, zingy green tomato chutney. He managed to make enough to fill a very impressive 11 large jars – inspiring stuff from a man whose grow-your-own ambitions stretch to self-sufficiency.

Self-sufficient in Suburbia is a blow by blow account of growing and rearing livestock for the table in the suburban North East. A great source of inspiration for anyone who likes to grow and eat their own produce, Jonathan’s post about producing 100 jars of apple jam to donate to his local community is heartwarming.

The Blackberry Garden

Growing is always a matter of trial and error, and what better way to improve your chances of success than by taking a moment in autumn to have a run through of what worked and what didn’t? That’s just what Alison at The Blackberry Garden did, giving you the opportunity to learn from her. Hollow courgettes? That’ll be the slugs again…

The Leicester-based gardener behind this excellent blog says, “The Blackberry Garden is not a ‘how to’ blog, the aim is to talk more about the enjoyment of gardening.” This is a great stop for general gardening news and views plus some excellent product and book reviews. Start with a preview of Francis Tophill’s ‘Rewild Your Garden’.

Katy in the Garden

If having “little space, no greenhouse and hardest of all, lack of sunlight,” characterises your plot, you’re not alone. In fact many of us grow in suboptimal conditions, says Katy of Katy in the Garden. But that’s no reason not to have a go. Follow this intrepid gardener as she coaxes a healthy crop of greens from the shadows.

A mum and gardener by day, glamorous baroque soprano by night, this talented lady is also the 2020 Garden Media Guild blogger of the year. With that accolade in the bag, you can be sure of great content here. You’ll love Katy’s simple tips for beginner composters – as she says, “If you follow a few very simple rules, it isn’t smelly and there are no foxes.”

The Tea Break Gardener

For a superfood you can grow pretty much anywhere, try kale, says Katharine at The Tea Break Gardener. “From frizzy red and curly green, to the majestic slaty leaves of Cavolo Nero, many varieties are available to grow in the British climate,” she says, and you don’t even need a garden – a container on your balcony will suffice.

An avid gardener since childhood, Katharine’s blog offers lots of interest and inspiration for beginner and experienced gardeners. She says “Gardening is one of those things that is best learned by doing. There is no substitute for getting your hands dirty and I aim to inspire readers of this blog to take the plunge and just do it.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our selection of excellent vibrant veg growers. If we happen to have missed one of your favourite veg-growing blogs, do get in touch to let us know so we can feature it in a future article. Just head to our Facebook page and leave us a message.