the times Saturday April 30 202216
H
ave you ever grown vegg-
ies? I have no doubt that
home-grown (yes, often
wonky) produce tastes
better than anything you
can buy and some of that
flavour is surely a result of
knowing you’ve grown and nurtured
what’s on your plate from seed to harvest.
To keep a family going all summer you’ll
need a decent-sized dedicated plot, but to
grow a few tasty edibles you don’t even
require a garden, as many can be grown in
pots and containers and placed on steps or
any other hard surface in an outside space.
Use conventional pots and containersLarge pots with
a few different
crops are better
than lots of
small ones,
which dry out
starting with a few pots and seeing where
you end up.What to plant now
We’re just about safe in all parts of the UK
to plant out tender edibles such as dwarf
French beans, courgettes, tomatoes,
chillies, peppers and sweetcorn and tender
herbs such as basil, coriander and lemon-
grass. Hardy plants like carrots, springCreate your own
vegetable patch
for summer
It’s the perfect time to plant chillies,
tomatoes, peppers, tender herbs and
much more — and you don’t even
need a garden, writes Joe Swift
filled with peat-free multipurpose com-
post. If you have a compost heap, make
your own (the good stuff will be at the
bottom — take out any twigs and mix it
about half and half with some decent gar-
den soil to bulk it out). If you’re being extra
frugal and not worried about aesthetics,
look for anything that will hold compost
and do the job of a container such as
wooden crates (lined with punctured plas-
tic), old plastic buckets or bins — anything
you can drill or cut drainage holes in the
bottom. There are some pop-up products
on the market (often sold as potato plant-
ers), which are perfect for summer use and
can be hidden in winter.Large pots with a few different crops are
better than lots of small ones, which dry
out and don’t give the roots room to
develop. You can plant straight into com-
post bags or grow bags, either laid flat (for
shallow-rooted crops such as salad leaves
and radish) or standing up for larger or
deeper-rooted plants like salad potatoes or
carrots. Think about what you’re growing
before you cut slits into them. I suggestTender edibles such as chillies and tomatoes can be planted out now