Don’t Grow Veg

I asked a new client this week if they grow their own vegetables and the answer was no. They then went on to explain that it was a lot of effort for a handful of potatoes and I couldn’t agree more.

I used to have an allotment. It was a half sized plot. Allotment plots are usually standard sizes, based on an old measuring system, where my half plot was about 10m by 12.5m. It was great and also a pain in the arse.

In order to avoid the dreaded letter, advising you to keep your plot cultivated or risk loosing it, I’d spend a good 4-8 hours every weekend from April to September behind the sacred gates usually weeding a stretch of soil which I’d left immaculate a couple of weeks before or in good rainfall sometimes only the week before.

My new pursuit of growing vegetables was being fuelled by this book by my long term food hero, Jamie Oliver. The picture above isn’t a copy of my book as that is far too thumbed and food splattered to appear on this website. At the time there were numerous TV programmes showing chefs effortlessly cooking al fresco in their picture-perfect vegetable gardens.

I grew to love and hate the allotment. There was always a great feeling cooking a meal from your own produce and I definitely benefitted from getting away from the computer. I was studying at the time and I could just about manage the commitment but could never have maintained a bigger plot or kept on top of the demands without the occasional assistance of family and friends in big ‘clear up days’.

The client I mentioned at the beginning of this post went on to tell me about how, instead of vegetable gardening in the traditional sense, he and his family enjoy foraging and have created an environment to forage in their own garden with nettle patches, wild garlic and the like. I think that this is so sensible, to identify what is important to you and adapt your garden to reflect that.

As for myself, I now have a small vegetable plot in my own back garden which is maybe a quarter of the size of my former allotment. This suits me perfectly. I can weed it in no time at all and now I know which plants I get the most enjoyment from growing and which I prefer to buy from the market, or when I’m less organised, from the supermarket.

Here’s a list of my recommendations based on the size of my current plot, the time I am willing to dedicate to growing and personal experience. The only way to develop your list is to really have a go yourself.

Grow your own

• Dwarf French beans- pick regularly for the longest season and the freshest beans
• Rhubarb- you literally don’t have to do anything to it other than a bit of manure and it looks beautiful. It does take a while to establish so a bit of patience is required for the first few years
• Tomatoes- home grown tomatoes are a different fruit to shop bought
• Borlotti beans- I confess, I just love making the cane structures too much
• Courgettes- one plant. Seriously no more.
• Curly Kale, Cavelo Nero and Purple sprouting Broccoli – cover with net to protect from cabbage white caterpillars but otherwise just leave be and you can eat them all winter right through to spring.
• Herbs- Have you seen the price of herbs in the supermarket? however we have found that for tender, leafy herbs like basil and coriander a good cheat is to buy the plant at the supermarket and just stick it in the ground if you want to skip growing from seed
• Pumpkins – the big ones aren’t worth cooking but look so awesome and autumnal
• Beetroot – One of the best. You can grow all the fancy colous and it’s super easy. A bit of thinning at the early stages then literally just ignore and harvest at will.

Don’t grow your own

• Carrots – never had any luck with these, don’t eat a lot and they are a bit small and fiddly for me
• Garlic – Never grown a successful crop
• Chillies – such princesses
• Peas – Home grown peas taste so good but for the space they take up I’d rather keep a bag in the freeze
• Potatoes – For a small plot they just take up too much space, but growing some new potatoes in varieties you don’t get in the shop like ‘Anya’ or ‘Pink Fir Apple’ are worthwile
• Cabbages – Space hogs