Build a better veg planner - 2026

Background

Have you looked at a growing veg planner and wondered whether it applied to your region of the country? You can help us improve this! We are asking people all around the UK to keep a record of key stages in a standardised climbing French bean crop over a number of growing seasons. This will help us provide better regional specific growing information and also, over time, observe longer term trends in a changing climate.

We’ve been working with a company called Frÿd (pronounced ‘frood’), based in Germany, to develop a citizen science area in their vegetable planning app. If you like being the first to try new things, we’d love you to submit your data via the app and let us know how you get on. We will send you more details when you register for this experiment.

Sign up here - deadline 17th April 2026

Aim

To get a better understanding of the timescales for growing vegetables in different regions of the country and to observe any changes or trends

Timescale

April - April

Space required

A space to grow climbing French beans

Materials needed

Small seed trays and compost

Bean seeds

Commitment - – what is needed from you

Time to raise plants and look after them

20 minutes a week to monitor plants and take harvests

Download instructions for taking part here

View experiment protocol here

Data Entry

The easiest way to keep track of your data is to join the Fryd garden planner and citizen science app which will give a streamlined way of engaging with the experiment.

If you don't like using apps, you can still use the good old online forms here