Easy Vegetables
I love growing vegetables… I love the generosity of them. The fact that I can go into the garden and pick a handful of salad leaves, beans, peas, spinach or a few courgettes fills me with a thrill that far exceeds the little effort it took to grow them. Last year I was optimistic and planted about 15 different varieties of vegetables, but when space is limited as in my garden, hard decisions have to be made over who gets space and who must go.
This year I am being completely practical and the winners are the varieties that were the easiest to grow and that I used the most. This year I will grow beans, peas and spinach from seed. Last year I had lots of success with rocket and lots of 'cut and come again' salad leaves from seed, sowing them every few weeks so as to keep up a good supply. This year I am going to buy the courgettes as small plants (just one green variety and one yellow); last year I grew them from seed, ended up with too many plants and didn't have the heart to dispose of the unwanted ones.
A few tried-and-tested (and easy-to-grow varieties)
french beans - I grew 'the prince', but there are many varieties available (bluelake is also recommended). French and runner beans will continue climbing and cropping, provided you keep picking them regularly. A good idea is to sow extra seed every 3-4 weeks to ensure a continuous supply. Sow them indoors from end of April, outdoors Mid-may to June, leaving 25cm between each pair. Space your rows 40-60cm apart. Don't sow if the soil is cold and wet - hang on until it warms up.
courgettes - I grew both yellow and green. Small plants of both yellow and green varieties are available by post from Sarah Raven (sarahraven.com)
spinach - 'Perpetual Spinach' - spinach beet with narrow stems and dark green leaves. 'Space' - dark green spinach for spring or autumn sowing.
Seed available from:
Chilterns seeds (chilternseeds.co.uk),
Duchy originals (www.duchyoriginals.com/seeds.php)
Vegetable plants available from by post from Sarah Raven (sarahraven.com)
