LET’S GROW

ith retail prices constantly increasing there has never been a better time to start growing your own vegetables. And it couldn’t be easier. I’ll explain how to grow two kitchen staples – peas and carrots – along with rainbow chard, which is an excellent substitute for spinach, and salsify, a gourmet luxury.

And if you don’t have much of a garden don’t despair, because the first three can all be grown very satisfactorily in containers.

Carrots

Even if you’ve got plenty of growing space there are two good reasons why you might, as I do, choose to grow carrots in containers.

Firstly, it decreases the likelihood that your crop will be ruined by carrot fly. The pests in question fly very low to the ground, so if you grow carrots in tall containers – or short containers raised on bricks – you’re less prone to problems. Aim for the lips of your containers to be 80–90cm above ground level.

Secondly, growing carrots in open beds requires a certain amount of soil preparation, namely digging out stones and improving heavy soil with sand, compost or manure. With a container it’s simple: plonk it in a sunny spot, fill it with decent multipurpose compost and you’re good to go!

The main carrot-sowing season is from April to June. Sow seeds thinly in 2cm drills (narrow trenches), spacing rows by 7–10cm. Cover them over, firm down the soil or compost and water well.

Your seedlings should emerge in a fortnight or so. Once they’re well established, thin them to 5cm apart. Water regularly in dry spells, but don’t overdo it – carrots detest being waterlogged.

Depending on the variety, your carrots will be ready to pull two or three months after sowing, so sow small quantities at regular intervals to ensure a regular supply through until autumn.

Peas

Peas are easy to grow, either in garden beds or in containers. Be aware, though, that they are climbing plants, so if you opt for containers it’s best to choose short or dwarf cultivars to make supporting them easier.

They can be sown any time from March to midJuly and will be ready to harvest after about three months. As with carrots it’s good practice to sow a row – or container’s worth – every few weeks to ensure a regular supply.

Pea seeds need to be soaked in cold water for 24 hours before planting, then sowed 3cm deep and 8cm apart. In open ground this can be done in two parallel rows 15cm apart, making it easy to build a supporting structure over them. In a container sow them in a rough grid with each pea 8cm distant from its neighbour.

The traditional way of supporting peas is with ‘pea sticks’, which are simply decent lengths of wellbranched prunings from whatever overgrown tree or shrub you have to hand. Hazel is excellent, but dogwood, birch, buddleja and the like will all do. If you can’t source pea sticks, build ‘wigwams’ out of garden canes and twine, tying your pea shoots into them as they grow.

Peas like slightly more water than carrots, especially when the pods are beginning to fill out, so don’t let them go thirsty during long dry spells.

Rainbow Chard

Even if it wasn’t a delicious, super-healthy leafy vegetable it would be worth growing rainbow chard for its decorative value alone. With its vibrant palette of crimson, white, yellow and glossy green it can be used as an eye-catching path edging in the vegetable garden or planted in clumps in flower borders for an electrifying pop of colour.

Chard is easier to grow than spinach because it is less prone to ‘bolt’ (go to seed). It’s also a great ‘cut and come again’ crop because as soon as it has reached a usable size – which will be in 10 to 12 weeks – you can harvest young, tender leaves for several weeks, if not months.

Sow chard in shallow drills, around 2cm deep, at any time between March and August, in rich, moist but free-draining soil. It can tolerate a certain amount of shade, especially during the long hot days of high summer.

Young plants should be thinned to 25cm apart – you can, of course, eat the thinnings – and kept well watered. Other than this, chard requires very little attention.

You can use chard in much the same way as spinach, that’s to say simmered or steamed, but separate the tougher leaf blades from the stems and cook them for a minute or two longer. The taste is similar to spinach, albeit a little bit stronger.

Salsify

Salsify isn’t always easy to come by in the shops, but it’s one of my favourite root vegetables. It’s rather like a long, thin, snow-white (when peeled) parsnip, with a subtle savoury-sweet flavour that’s reminiscent of artichoke hearts or asparagus. Salsify is particularly delicious baked, sautéed or braised in light stock.

Because it is so deep-rooted, salsify isn’t a good choice for container growing. On the plus side, like rainbow chard it’s actually a very handsome plant in its own right. Imagine a spiky violet dandelion on a metre-high stalk… it’s pretty impressive and definitely worthy of a place in the flower border.

Grow salsify in a sunny spot on fertile, welldrained soil that’s as stone-free as you can make it. Sow seeds 1–2cm deep in rows 30cm apart and thin young plants to a distance of 15cm. Keep weed-free.

Salsify will be ready to harvest from October onwards, but like parsnips the roots can be left in the ground during winter, and they will be improved by being frosted. Be careful not to snap them when digging them up. Carefully loosen the soil all the way around each plant, then gently prise the root up.

As well as the roots, the leaves of salsify can be eaten, raw or cooked.

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