Veg file

The veg file

Sourced growing facts and a little history, vegetable by vegetable. Every fact links to its source, checked 29 Oct 2026. We stick to growing and history: no health or diet advice.

Potatoes

• Potatoes are grown from specially prepared “seed potatoes” (small tubers), usually planted in spring. [source]
• With early varieties, seed potatoes can be “chitted” (encouraged to sprout) before planting, to give an earlier crop. [source]
• Early potatoes can be ready to harvest in as little as 12 weeks. [source]
• The National Allotment Society calls potatoes an excellent crop for beginners: easy to grow, and they help break up the soil. [source]
• The potato is native to the Peruvian-Bolivian Andes. Spaniards introduced it into Europe in the second half of the 16th century. [source]
• In the First World War, Kew Palace lawn was dug up to grow vegetables, and the lawn alone produced 27 tonnes of potatoes. [source]
• The United Nations International Day of Potato is held on 30 May. [source]

Tomatoes

• Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) are closely related to potatoes, and can get the same blight disease outdoors, but rarely in a greenhouse. [source]
• For a greenhouse crop, the RHS says to sow tomato seeds from late February to mid-March. [source]
• The name “tomato” comes from the Náhuatl (Aztec) word tomatl. The Spanish brought the tomato to Europe in the early 16th century. [source]
• In France and northern Europe, tomatoes were first grown as ornamental plants and were viewed with suspicion as food. [source]

Onions

• Onions are usually grown from small bulbs called sets, planted outdoors in spring or sometimes in autumn. [source]
• Onions can be stored after harvest, rather than having to be used straight away. [source]
• The National Allotment Society says onions and garlic are hardy, low-maintenance crops that thrive in most conditions. [source]

Broccoli

• In gardening, broccoli (sprouting broccoli) makes small clusters of usually purple buds on long leafy stems. Calabrese makes one large green head. [source]
• Traditional winter and spring sprouting broccoli forms large plants up to 90cm tall and wide, and can take eight months or more to mature. [source]
• Broccoli is a brassica, so it goes with its cabbage relatives in crop rotations. [source]

Chillies and sweet peppers

• Chillies are tender plants that need heat, humidity and lots of sunshine to fruit well. They are closely related to sweet peppers. [source]
• Compact chilli varieties reach only 20–30cm tall, so they grow well in containers. [source]
• Sweet peppers usually reach only about 60cm tall and 30cm wide, and grow well in large pots. [source]

Rhubarb

• Rhubarb is a hardy perennial that lives for many years and thrives in even the coldest sites. [source]
• Don’t harvest rhubarb stems in the first year after planting, and only a few in the second. [source]
• Rhubarb is a vegetable rather than a fruit, but it is traditionally eaten as a dessert. [source]
• Covering rhubarb with large pots or forcing jars in winter gives an early crop of blanched stems. [source]

Sweet potatoes

• Sweet potatoes are close cousins of morning glory and only distantly related to ordinary potatoes. [source]
• Sweet potatoes are started from cuttings, known as slips, or plug plants in spring, not from tubers. [source]
• Sweet potatoes crop best at 21–26°C, and their trailing or climbing stems easily reach 1.5m or more. [source]

Aubergines

• Aubergines, also known as eggplants and brinjal, are tender plants that need lots of warmth, so they are best grown in a greenhouse. [source]
• Aubergines (Solanum melongena) are closely related to tomatoes and peppers. [source]
• Aubergine fruits come in dark purple, mauves and pinks, white or green, from round to long and thin. [source]

Okra

• Okra, also known as ladies’ fingers or bhindi, is a tender plant that originates in East Africa. [source]
• In the UK okra usually has to be grown in a greenhouse or polytunnel. Plants grow up to 120cm tall, with hibiscus-like flowers. [source]
• The RHS says to sow okra seeds indoors in March or April, after soaking them for two hours in warm water. [source]

Globe artichokes

• Globe artichokes are grown for their flower buds. Left unpicked, the buds open into big purple thistle-like flowers that bees love. [source]
• A mature globe artichoke plant can produce up to 12 edible buds over the summer. [source]
• Globe artichoke plants grow 1–1.5m tall, and clumps should be divided every four or five years. [source]

Timeline

Dates are as given by each source. Sowing and harvest months are the RHS’s general UK guidance; they shift with your area and the weather.

Seed potatoes, trays and tools

For the plot or the patio: Seed potatoes · Chitting trays · Potato grow bags · Digging forks · Onion sets · Rhubarb forcers · Allotment planners · Gardening books for children. These are Amazon UK search links, not endorsements of particular products. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.