What To Grow in a Crisis

It is like the old joke.

Visitor:  How do I get to XXX

Local:  If I was going to XXX I wouldn't start here...

I read that the vegetable seed companies are inundated with new orders, especially since the garden centres have shut their doors. So the question arises: What to grow?

First of all consider what space you have available.  A windowsill, balcony, patio, garden or allotment?  Microgreens, herbs, cucumber, chilli, tomato all suit the first whereas artichokes and asparagus would only suit the bigger sites. Patios are no longer limiting as "crops in pots" has become fashionable in the last decade - even potatoes.

Then there is the season - the reason for the poor joke above.  Well the news is surprisingly good for the northern hemisphere. In the UK it is too late for garlic and other autumn planted crops (like rhubarb and raspberries) but still very early in the growing season for just about everything else!  Broad beans spring to mind because they can be sown in autumn but also in early spring. It's not too late.  In fact April is about the busiest month for sowing in the vegetable gardening calendar. As a rule, what you can't sow in April you can sow in May!

The key consideration for sowing/planting outdoors is the last night of frost. Here in Edinburgh mid May is the usual reference point, but further south you can expect an earlier date. That is not to promise that nature won't come up with a nasty surprise (Edinburgh has exceptionally had frost in June!).  Generally plants are 'hardy',  'half hardy' or  'tender' to frost.  Peas are half hardy whereas courgettes are tender.  That's why you can sow peas outside before the last frost date but you need to protect courgettes and only plant them out after the danger is gone.  For tender crops it is worth keeping an ear/eye out for the weather forecast in the days/weeks after planting out sensitive seedlings. Frost warnings feature larger as the year goes as even some weather forecasters are gardeners too.

So you have identified your growing space and are ready to sow.  What's best to try?  Something fast, something tasty?

'Fast' in gardening terms is relative.  You cannot expect to beat 7 days for mustard and cress or other microgreens indoors.  Proper salad leaves boast that they are ready in as little as 25 or 30 days. By contrast parsnips are notoriously 'in the ground' for 12 months. Although ready to be dug up in the autumn, there is a reason why they are associated with Christmas.  Chillies and tomatoes take all summer to get cropping in Scotland, but then the challenge of getting a return at all is half the fun! In between these extremes most vegetable crops deliver in 40 to 90 days.

Tasty:  Tastes differ but one rule is that schoolchildren don't like radishes (a shame as they are one of the fastest crops).  Peas and beans, carrots and cabbages are all popular, but each has its own growing challenge. Some unfamiliar crops can turn out to be favourites. When the school garden produced a bumper crop of purple sprouting broccoli some children wouldn't even try it, but others did and enjoyed the novelty. Swiss chard is not common in the shops but really popular in  many 'grow your own' households. Bulb fennel is not difficult to grow but divides opinion depending on where you sit on the aniseed tolerance scale. The brassica family (cabbage, kale, Brussel sprouts) is a must for most adults but a no no for many youngsters.

So, time to come off the fence. My top 5 starter vegetable recommendations are:

Mustard and Cress - Quick old fashioned reliable 'microgreens'

Carrots -  6 inches of soil needed for the homegrown taste money won't buy.

Peas - Straight from the pod - unforgettable - or 'peashoots' if you are in a hurry.

Swiss Chard - All the benefits of spinach but easier and with the bonus of buttery ribs.

Beetroot - Red or Gold, so sweet. Worth the wait.

Growing veg isn't as easy as it appears to be on telly, but it is remarkably rewarding in the first year and devilishly addictive once you have taken on the challenge of improving on last year.


Now here is a tune that seemed laughable not so long ago: