Eat well all summer…and longer
Here are our top five must-have veggies/fruit for the summer and onwards. These provide the heart to any veg patch, no matter how small, and are versatile additions to your culinary supplies.
Courgettes
Sow your own. There’s still time to do sowing in June and if you managed to do an initial sowing in April, and do another one now, you will have plenty of courgettes to potentially last you until October. Pick them when they are small and they are fabulous halved and griddled, as tempura or in salads in ribbons or grated with lemon juice and olive oil.
Kale
The most fashionable of veggies around and rightly so! Just sow, or plant, and pick. They require minimal attention and will grow well through the summer. Can produce meals for up to six months of the year, just keep harvesting them. They are great steamed, puréed or air fried. Delicious!
Herbs
A handful of parsley, basil, mint, oregano or wild rocket can turn the most lifeless of meals into a delicious treat. And you can grow them on your windowsill.
Salad leaves
There are lots to choose from but if you’re a first timer with salad leaves go for the cut-and-come varieties, also try rocket, mizuna and lettuces. It’s still not too late to sow seeds in veg beds and growbags or tubs on patios and most good garden centres will be stocking wonderful young salad plants too.
Tomatoes
If you choose your varieties well, you could be eating home-grown tomatoes from July until November. Go for the young plants available now and you could be munching your way through delicious grills, salads and soup dishes a couple of times a week. For full on production then around nine plants will do, but if you’re short on space just try three in a growbag and have a go.