Every so often, you come across one of those vegetables and just think wow. And this is one of them. It’s probably one of the easiest vegetables to grow, equally happy on a windowsill or outside. It has great temperature tolerance, surviving both the cold winter and hot summer. If that doesn’t sell it to you, it takes ~3 weeks from sowing to harvesting, and each crop can be harvested multiple times. Even better – it’s a nitrogen fixer, meaning it even enriches the soil for the next crop. What a champion.
This particular vegetable has it’s roots back in Ancient Persia, and was introduced to Britain in the 14th Century. It proved a hit with the locals just as it continues to be now, being another health bomb of a vegetable. It’s packed full of vitamins A, B2, B6, C, E and K, as well as manganese, folate, magnesium, copper, calcium, potassium and most famously, iron – no wonder Popeye loved it.
Most vegetables hate the cold winter weather. This vegetable, however, thrives in it, providing beautiful splashes of colour in an otherwise dark and dreary month. A close relation of spinach and beetroot, this vegetable grows huge green leaves on multicoloured stems, giving it its cute collective name of ‘rainbow’.
In the cold, dark days of December, there is one vegetable that stands out about the rest. While other plants suffer, this one thrives with its large, deep green, frilly leaves looking regal in the winter sun. It shrugs off frosts like they didn’t happen – in fact it improves with them as the freeze turns some of the starches into sugars.
Often first noticed in a dish when it’s tasted, the fresh pepperiness of these diminutive leaves really packs a punch. Synonymous with spicing up salads or freshening up Italian cuisine, rocket is a must for any autumnal vegetable patch.
Carrots can be grown most of the way through the year, however it’s in late autumn when they really take centre stage. Having spent the last few months stoically gathering strength from the Earth, the swollen roots are ready to be lifted out of the ground in a flourish of orange – just in time to refine your night vision ahead of the dark winter months!
The Eiffel Tower, croissants, red wine… there are many things that come to mind when we think of the French, but all of them pale in comparison to French beans. These long, thin, humble beings are just a delight in the garden, and even more so on the plate.
A tomato plant in full swing is one of the finest sights in a garden. Coming in all shapes, sizes and colours, these tumblers, climbers, and bushes are the source of immense pride up and down the country.
July - the month of strawberries and cream at Wimbledon and the seemingly endless summer evenings – is when the first of the big hitters appear on our vegetable patch. If you need ideas for a small garden, look no further than a courgette (or zucchini to our friends across the pond).
Being one of the earliest movers on a vegetable patch, peas are often a symbol of anticipation and excitement for hopeful gardeners each spring. Inquisitive tendrils reach out in search of something to grip on tight to, creating a maze of green.
With the end of the April showers, and the hopeful anticipation of some more consistent sunshine, May is the time in the garden when things really start to take off. Nothing exemplifies this more than lettuces, which grow at such a rate it seems like they produce a whole new salad every day!
The crisp crunch of a radish evokes memories of childhood, of Peter Rabbits escapades to steal his favourite food from Mr McGregor. The refreshing, almost peppery, taste mimics the fresh Spring days of April when the blossom is blooming, and the birds are chirping.
