From the Allotment · Season 2026

My Allotment

What I grow, and what I cook from it.

An allotment is a small rented plot where you grow your own vegetables, a bit like a community garden plot.

By Chef Łukasz Babral Updated

Rows of tomato plants with ripening red and green tomatoes either side of a path in the greenhouse.
10Crops
16Photos
22Recipes and tools linked
2026Season
In 2026: Tomatoes Peppers Courgettes (zucchini) Cucumbers Aubergines (eggplant) Beetroot Kale Runner Beans Potatoes and Carrots Apples

I keep an allotment, and a lot of what ends up on this site starts there. Cucumbers by the crate in high summer, far more than I can eat fresh, which is why there are so many pickling recipes here. Tomatoes for sauce, potatoes, strawberries and rhubarb, and beetroot that tastes nothing like the supermarket kind.

Growing the vegetables changes how you cook them. You learn what a cucumber is supposed to taste like in July, and you stop reaching for things that are out of season. This page keeps the photos from each season, with the recipes that go with what grows. You can read more about me.

The photos

Season 2026

One card for each crop, with what I cook from it.

Tomato plants with red and green fruit beside a stone path on the allotment, with orange marigolds at the front.
A San Marzano tomato held in an open hand over grass.
A truss of red and green tomatoes on the vine with a green pepper behind.

Tomatoes

Money Maker is my favourite: medium fruit on the vine, very good flavour and little work. I also grow San Marzano and Buffalo Steak, and I have grown green and yellow ones too. Tomatoes go into sauce, salsa and pasta, and when there are too many to eat I turn them into jars of sauce.

I cook it in

Rustic Tomato Sauce for Canning Roasted Tomato Salsa Tuscan Sausage Pasta Leczo with Smoked Sausage
Green peppers growing on the plant above a bed of straw.

Peppers

Mostly sweet ones this season, and a mix of chillies last year. I like the Hungarian paprika peppers, which are very good in goulash, and a mild Polish yellow one that is perfect for stuffing. Peppers also go into leczo.

I cook it in

Leczo with Smoked Sausage
A yellow courgette growing among large green leaves.
A hand holding a green courgette and a round courgette with a harder orange skin, in the greenhouse.

Courgettes (zucchini)

Yellow and green are the standard ones. The round ones came from a garden centre: nice to grow, but I prefer the standard kind to eat because the skin is softer. Courgettes go into leczo in the summer.

I cook it in

Leczo with Smoked Sausage
A cucumber hanging on the plant inside a netted greenhouse.
A hand holding a round, pale yellow cucumber.

Cucumbers

I usually grow the Polish pickling variety, and long ones for salad. The round yellow one was an adventure: not bad for fermenting, but I would not use it in a salad because the skin is harder. There are far more than I can eat fresh, which is why there are so many pickling recipes here.

I cook it in

Ogórki Kiszone Korean Cucumber Kimchi Authentic Greek Tzatziki Fermentation Brine Calculator
A hand holding a dark purple aubergine still on the plant.

Aubergines (eggplant)

I have grown a few kinds: small ones, bigger ones and Money Maker. The very small Asian ones, white and purple, are perfect for curry. They grow well in the UK.

I cook it in

Grilled Aubergine and Halloumi Halloumi and Aubergine Shakshouka Greek Moussaka
A beetroot growing in the soil with its leaves above it, a hand held over the plant.

Beetroot

Only the classic red kind, I am not a fan of the coloured ones. Beetroot that tastes nothing like the supermarket kind.

I cook it in

Barszcz Czerwony Beet Kvass Fermented Radish, Carrot and Beetroot Beetroot Cured Salmon
Curly kale plants with a hand resting on a leaf.

Kale

Curly kale, which I roast as a side for a roast dinner. There is no kale recipe on the blog yet.

A hand holding a bunch of runner beans.

Runner Beans

I have grown a few types, and I pick the pods small while they are soft. Runner beans go with browned butter and breadcrumbs.

I cook it in

Polish Runner Beans with Browned Butter
A crate of potatoes and carrots with their tops.

Potatoes and Carrots

Vivaldi potatoes, my favourite from the shop, and standard long orange carrots. They go into the Polish vegetable salad, and the potatoes into potato pancakes.

I cook it in

Sałatka Jarzynowa Polish Potato Pancakes
A red apple growing on a branch.

Apples

A Cox tree, only three years old, so I do not get many yet. Apples go into szarlotka, racuchy and a tonkatsu sauce.

I cook it in

Szarlotka Racuchy Apple Tarte Tatin Apple and Ginger Tonkatsu Sauce
Crates of tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots, yellow courgettes, peppers and herbs laid out on paving.
The 2026 harvest

Questions

What is an allotment?

An allotment is a small plot of land that you rent to grow your own vegetables, a bit like a plot in a community garden. Mine is where the tomatoes, courgettes and beetroot on this page come from.

Why are some of your courgettes round?

They are a round variety, and the ones I grow have a harder skin than the long green kind. In the US they are called round zucchini.

Next season

New photos and recipes are added here each season. To see them when they are ready, subscribe.

Subscribe for new recipes Polish food guide Fermentation brine calculator