Easy edibles
Finding the time to create a veg garden and look after it isn’t easy, we appreciate that.
But you can still eat fresh produce without having a dedicated and time-consuming veggie patch in your outdoor space.
Here are eight edibles you could consider planting to help pep up your dishes.
Asparagus
Asparagus can be planted within a border too. You can buy “crowns” either in packets or in pots and plant immediately into soil that has had well-rotted manure added to it to give it a really good start. Crowns need to be left for two years before you can start harvesting the young shoots but will then last for many years. The frondy foliage that you leave on the plant later in the year adds a good new texture to any mixed border. These are very easy to grow and rarely suffer from any pests or diseases.
Borage
Borage is easy to grow as a beautiful blue flowering summer annual with the added bonus of being very bee friendly. It will self-sow every year and spread. Use as a garnish for cocktails.
Chives
Chives are simple to grow and have pretty pinky flowers above pencil-like foliage, which has a delicate onion taste. They are small, compact, hardy perennials, so reappear year after year.
Using kitchen scissors snip off some green stems and scatter them on salads or meats. The flowers can also be eaten. Scatter over any dish.
Fennel
You can use the whole of the plant in cooking. It has an aniseed flavour and is used mostly with fish, but it is also great in salads and with meats. The plant will grow quite tall, but upright, so doesn’t take up a lot of space and the foliage is very attractive too.
Globe artichoke
They grow well whatever the soil type and are low maintenance. Not only are they large and dramatic, they are architecturally pleasing. You can also pick their heads and lightly griddle them on a barbecue or fire pit. Following cooking try drizzling them with a bit of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.
Lemon thyme
Thyme is a versatile plant that can be planted in between paving blocks or in planters on a patio or even in hanging baskets.
The lemon-scented variety smells fabulous. It tastes amazing mixed with butter and tucked under the skin of a slow-cooked chicken.
Mesclun
Mesclun salads are a mixture of baby salad leaves from endive, arugula, chervil and leafy lettuces. Caution though – slugs love them, so keep them well off the ground in planters with legs or on windowsills and deploy some slug repelling products. Sow regularly throughout spring and summer to give a constant supply.
Rosemary
A hardy small shrub that you can squeeze into a gap in your borders, ideally in a good sunny spot, with lots of lovely blue flowers in early spring. But beware it doesn’t like wet, cold winters. A few sprigs can be used with any meat or fish for a lovely aroma. You can also pop a sprig in your after work sneaky G&T to help bring out the flavours!