| Get with it – grow veg! |
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| Written by Colin Hambidge, 2005 | |
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For many years sales of flower seeds to gardeners outstripped those of vegetables, but in the last three or four seasons the pendulum of popularity has started to swing towards edible plants. At first glance this may appear strange, particularly when we consider that gardens tend to be smaller than they were and there is an abundance of reasonably priced produce available from supermarkets.So how do we account for the trend of more and more people wanting to grow their own vegetables? I believe there are several reasons, not least of which is a fear of the chemicals used in the production of commercially-grown vegetables. Increasingly we do not want to consume the chemicals in, or on, the vegetables we buy from a shop (and hence the growing popularity of organic produce). If we are growing them at home we have total control of the growing régime and can decide for ourselves whether or not we wish to use herbicides on the weeds, fertilisers in the soil or pesticides on the vegetables themselves. Many gardeners, and especially those new to gardening, prefer to garden as organically as possible because of this mistrust. Another reason why we are growing more vegetables is that shop-bought specimens may look perfect and beautiful and uniform, but one important aspect is sometimes missing - taste! Supermarkets often decide which varieties of vegetables to stock using ability to be transported undamaged (from as far away as Kenya) and length of shelf life as their criteria. Gardeners, on the other hand, have no such worries. Their vegetables only have to travel from the back garden or allotment to the kitchen and they can be eaten within hours of being harvested. Just about any vegetables will taste delicious in those circumstances, but the gardener has a huge range of varieties from which to choose and they can pick the tastiest ones. Sweet corn is a good example of how home-grown beats shop-bought. Two new varieties called Swift and Lark have recently been introduced. They are known as Tendersweets and they yield the juiciest, sweetest cobs imaginable. Their disadvantage from the greengrocer's point of view is that the kernels are very thin-skinned, so they bruise easily during transportation. The advantage from the gardener's point of view is that these thin skins improve the eating quality of the cobs. Incidentally, home-grown sweet corn is unbeatable because it can be eaten within minutes of being picked and before the sugars present start turning to starch, which inevitably has happened to cobs bought from a shop. Allotment or gro-bagGardening, like other aspects of our lives, is subject to fashion and it has to be said that vegetable growing has become trendy. Nowadays an allotment has almost the same status as a beach hut! The weekend broadsheet newspapers and even the Radio 2 Jeremy Vine show have garden correspondents who report from their allotments - veg growing is definitely 'in'.It certainly does not require an allotment, however, to produce tasty vegetables. In fact, it is perfectly possible to grow vegetables in the smallest of gardens, on a patio or even on a balcony. Growing bags and pots offer an easy means of vegetable gardening, which would barely have been considered 20 years ago. While the majority of growing bags are bought for cultivating tomatoes or peppers, they can also be used for providing a wide range of other salad crops. For example, spring onions, lettuces, radishes, spinach will all do well in bags, as too will herbs such as basil, rocket, chervil, parsley and coriander. Just remember to position the bags in a sunny spot and to keep them watered. arge pots (10-12in size) can be filled with the contents of growing bags to provide the perfect place for carrots and beetroot. I also use them to grow my French beans, and it is surprising just how high-yielding they can be when grown in this manner. And if you want the tastiest, earliest and blemish-free new potatoes of the summer, pots are the perfect way to produce them. Go for a slightly larger container (12-16in) and plant one tuber per pot. If you have a greenhouse, the pots can be placed in it to produce even earlier crops of mouth-watering tubers. If you do not have a greenhouse, it is worth investing in the next best thing - a set of cloches, which, although not cheap, will last several years and more than pay for themselves. Whether made of glass or thick polythene, these 'mini-greenhouses' are great for warming up the soil at the beginning of the season, protecting young plants in the early stages of growth and for lengthening the growing season in spring and in autumn. They also have the great advantage of being completely mobile. When the vegetable bug really begins to bite, many gardeners covet an allotment, but these are not always easy to come by nowadays as many have been sold off for redevelopment. Local authorities often have a waiting list of gardeners who would like an allotment, so you may have to wait for one to become vacant. It has to be said that an allotment is quite a commitment, especially to anyone in full-time employment. Fellow allotment holders will expect newcomers to keep their plot in good order and relatively weed-free, but the time and effort will be well worthwhile when you start bringing home all those delicious vegetables. See if you can find a neighbour with the same longing for fresh produce who will be willing to share the work - and the rewards - with you. With a little planning, an allotment will easily provide enough vegetables to support a family all year round. In addition to runner beans, peas and courgettes in summer and leeks, parsnips and Brussels sprouts in winter, an allotment also provides enough space to allow you to grow perennial vegetables such as asparagus and seakale. These are generally regarded as 'gourmet' vegetables, but they are surprisingly easy to grow, as are Jerusalem and globe artichokes. Whatever the size of the garden and whether or not you have an allotment, always try to find room for rare, unusual or offbeat vegetables. There's more to life than carrots and cabbages! One of my favourites is salsify, which is nothing to look at, but has a wonderful and unique flavour. The roots look like thin parsnips and it is not for nothing that salsify is known as the 'vegetable oyster'. If you want real value for money from your vegetables, pick Swiss chard, a form of seakale beet. The thick mid-ribs (chards) can be steamed or used in stir-fries, while the leaves can be cooked like spinach. And if you like your vegetables to be ornamental as well as tasty, choose the variety Bright Lights, which produces red, pink, orange and white mid-ribs. Incidentally, Swiss chard is also very good for growing in pots on the patio. Pick-your-ownTalk to old gardeners and they will probably tell you that vegetables years ago were better and tastier than those we grow today. I disagree: I believe that many modern vegetable varieties are not only heavier cropping than older strains, but are also more disease- and pest-resistant and actually have a better flavour. If I had to pick my top eight 'desert island' vegetables they would be:
Whatever your initial reason for growing vegetables, you will soon discover that the main one becomes the satisfaction of sitting down to a meal prepared with the freshest, tastiest and most nutritious of ingredients. Colin Hambidge is a keen gardener and worked for 17 years for Unwins Seeds. He is the author of The Unwins Century, published by Jarrold. |
