Home-grown delights


Picture courtesy of Stephen Tolley stephentolley@btinternet.com


The vegetable garden


One of the things the enthusiastic gardener gets down to at this time of year is organising the vegetable plot.


Some gardeners avoid the purely decorative plants feeling that unless the whole of their available ground is taken up with home- grown offerings for the table, then somehow they have failed.


Others of course will have none of it and use the entire garden for purely ornamental purposes. Somewhere in between these two extremes the rest of us dwell, our gardens being a comfortable mixture of annuals, perennials, fruit trees, fruiting and ornamental shrubs, plus a few vegetables.


All are grown as much for interest as any serious intention to provide for the family’s main requirements.


These days however, there is a growing lobby in favour of planting vegetables amongst the decorative subjects for two reasons.


The first is because some vegetables actually enhance the appearance of the plot. Green and red lettuces for example, placed alternately along a border can be very attractive.


French marigolds and certain other aromatic plants are both very good at banishing predatory insects and a lot more environmentally friendly than chemicals.


Home-grown vegetables are rather special as they probably taste better than many that has been bought fresh from the local supermarket.


Research has shown that the vitamin C content of vegetables


declines in the time between harvest and use.


Taste and nutrition apart, perhaps part of the appeal of ‘growing your own’lies in being able to say nonchalantly to admiring dinner guests, “Picked it this morning you know!”


Anyway, whatever the motive, the casual vegetable garden is here to stay, so perhaps it is time to review just what should be grown on a small scale in order to reap the most benefit from what is undoubtedly, quite hard work?


The first point to think about is what the you and your family likes. There is absolutely no point in growing lines of beautiful greens when no-one at home will eat them.


The second consideration is, what space is available for the vegetables?


If your space is very limited then, rather than growing the good old, main crops such as potatoes, carrots, onions, and the larger members of the cabbage family, your best bet is to try your hand at producing some of the less common vegetables that are difficult, expensive or even impossible to buy commercially.


This can be something of a journey of exploration. There are many edible plants that are no longer sold to be eaten but which make tasty and valuable additions to the family diet.


One example that comes to mind is rape - that yellow flowering crop that is grown in vast fields all over the UK. In the middle ages it was considered a salad vegetable and f you care to try it, both leaves and pods make a flavoursome alternative to rocket or lettuce.


There are other examples such as members of the onion family that almost never appear in the shops, but can be grown quite happily at home and will all add that something different to your diet.


Rocambole is a good subject. Known botanically as Allium Scorodoprasum it is a native of Northern England. It is sometimes called the ‘sand leek’.


It grows best in rich loam and is cultivated by dividing the bulbs into cloves, which should be planted in March (so make a note in your next year's diary now) about two inches deep and about six inches apart.


The onions are ready to harvest when the leaves fade, and you have small onions with a taste rather resembling garlic but much, much milder. They will keep well if hung in a cool dry place till needed.


The so called Welsh onion is another good subject to try.


Allium Fistulosum is in fact a native of Siberia but was once very commonly grown in Wales. It is an herbaceous perennial and extremely hardy under the bleakest conditions.


The onion forms no bulbs, the young growths are used for salads and stews. Seed is sown end of March or in the autumn, the latter being ready to use in the spring before even chives are available. There are both red and white varieties, both being equally good.


Established plants can be divided every three or four years, although


the best flavours come from plants seeded annually.


Garlic is another member of the onion family that provides very valuable flavour and variety to meals hot and cold.


Did you know that there are several varieties of garlic ranging from the very large, lightly flavoured ‘elephant garlic’down to the tiny, intensely flavoured, wild variety you only seem to be able to get in Italy. If you come across bottled specimens, buy them, they are delicious!


If you are seeking unusual vegetables your garden centre may be able either to source them, if you know what you are looking for, or point you at a specialist supplier, they do exist.


Be adventurous, if you don’t like a particular subject, you need not grow it again, on the other hand, you just never know what you might be missing!


CORNISH GARDENER - summer 2012 9


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