Grow what you love

November 1, 2011 by outofmyshed

Autumn is a great time of year for reflection, looking at the highs and lows of the growing season and eagerly planning ahead for next year’s perfect plot or border. I spent a couple of hours discussing such matters with friend Lisette in her veg garden and as we talked, she started jotting down ideas in her notebook about what she wanted to grow and how she’d like her beds to look next year. And with the jotting down came splendid clarity. I’m not saying these ideas are set in stone, but it’s great to get all your thoughts down, even if it’s just to cross them out again and replace with new plans at a later date.

Through this process we both concluded that sometimes less is more (grow less varieties, but more of each chosen plant) and even more importantly, that after the initial year or two (or more!) of trying out all sorts of fruit, veg and flowers, it’s best to grow what you really love to eat and what you really love to look at (even though these preferences are themselves forever changing!).

What I’m sure about is that next year I want to mix my edibles and ornamentals more than ever. I love the look (such as the frothy pink Cosmos amongst spiky arching stems of a Japanese Wineberry, above) and such diversity of planting encourages beneficial insects and reduces the risk of pests and diseases.

With space (and time) always at a premium, I now plump for fruit and veg that I find truly delicious or wonderfully decorative (or both!) and flowers that fill my heart with joy. I’ll be trying out Lab lab beans (Dolichos lab lab or Hyacinth bean), above, for the first time next year as I’ve been seduced by their wonderful two-tone blooms,

and the alien like Kohlrabi for a bit of drama within the plot. Still tweaking plans in my notebook for next spring and enjoying searching through seed catalogues and websites in order to create my utopian veg patch.

Posted in 'How to', Allotment, Annuals, Edible Flowers, Japanese wineberries, Kholrabi, Perennials, Plant combinations, potager, Vegetables | Tagged Allium sphaerocephalon, Allotment planning, Cosmos combinations, Cottage garden planning, deciding what to grow in your garden, Japanese Wineberries, Kohlrabi, Lablab bean flowers, London Gardening blog, Mixing Edible and ornamental plants, mixing flowers and veg, planning your garden, Planning your veg patch, Potager planting, Utopian veg patch, Veg growing blog, Veg growing in flower beds | 13 Comments

13 Responses

on November 1, 2011 at 10:29 am | Reply Sue

I love the look of lablab beans and the kholrabi is a work of art. And I agree the allotment is a fantastic opportunity to mix edibles with flowers. I am planning to do much more of that next year and also to have a bed for cuttings of shrubs and roses. Controlled chaos is acceptable on the lotte- well more so than in the garden.
on November 1, 2011 at 11:40 pm | Reply outofmyshed

Hi Sue, yes, I’m really looking forward to a very experimental year next year (and from what I’ve read, Lablab beans could be a bit of a challenge too). And yes, it’s great to have space to grow plants on at the allotment. I planted out some Agapanthus seedlings last year and they’ve come on a treat. Not sure how much longer I’ll have to wait for them to flower,but I know they’ll be hardy if they make it through the winter at the allotment.
on November 2, 2011 at 2:17 am | Reply Wife Mother Gardener

Both of your combinations are very pretty. I love the idea of combining the flowers and veg, but would find it hard to start veggies in my front yard, which is where most of my garden is located. Any thoughts?

I always enjoy your posts.
Thanks,
Julie
on November 2, 2011 at 9:19 am | Reply outofmyshed

Hi Julie, One of the reasons that I grow veg and flowers together is lack of space to have a separate veg patch at home, but biodiversity is also an important factor too. What I’ve started doing for myself, and with clients too, is to incorporate fruit or veg, or both, into planting designs. Things like autumn raspberries which you cut down in Feb and fruit on stems produced that year, need no staking and then act like a small shrub-but with fruit to eat! Fennel and Dill are gorgeously decorative with feathery leaves amongst perennials, or Marjoram to edge a bed-attracts a huge amount of bees. Runner beans or Purple/Yellow French beans can look beautiful growing up a wigwam and add height to a border. Think what you like to eat and then see if you can work it into your garden.Naomi
p.s Once I started growing veg in my front garden, every time I was out tending my crops, neighbours would stop and chat about what I was growing.They loved to see veg growing-and this in turn started off our community veg growing project where over 100 neighbours are now growing veg in their front gardens (see BTG page above).Great way to get to know your neighbours!
on November 3, 2011 at 11:08 am | Reply VP

Kudos to you for squeezing as many vegetables and fruit in your garden. My latest experiment is saffron crocus. Time will tell if I harvest enough to use, but in the meantime they’re very pretty 🙂
- on November 3, 2011 at 2:24 pm | Reply outofmyshed
  
  Hi VP, Wow! Sounds amazing. How many bulbs are you growing for your potential harvest? Do let me know how you get on. V.best Naomi
on November 3, 2011 at 2:43 pm | Reply Veronica Peerles

Grow what you love… not what you ought to! A good piece of advice for any gardener. I think I’ve learned that lesson pretty well on my allotment, but reading your post made me feel a bit sad as I can’t put your advice into practice in an actual garden… yet!!
on November 3, 2011 at 4:05 pm | Reply outofmyshed

Hi Veronica, I do know how frustrating it is not to have any growing space and hope you find the garden of your dreams soon(ish?). I know that Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall has a great website helping potential gardeners to get in contact with people offering land to grow on at http://www.landshare.net/ Even in London, there are green spaces on offer!
on November 4, 2011 at 5:34 pm | Reply Petra Hoyer Millar

It’s lovely to look back to see what worked and what did n’t. Though I always try to do this more, WHILST, it is all growing but there’s never enough time. That kohlrabi is quite something. Never eaten one – is it/was it tasty? I have somewhat started the ‘corrections’ process in that perennials have been moved/split and some new ones added. Love that job, though it does make one long for spring… some way to go yet! For the veg patch that is still open to discussion, but will include the usual lovelies; kales, beetroots etc. May try your suggestion Jerusalem Artichokes too.
on November 6, 2011 at 8:55 am | Reply outofmyshed

Hi Petra, sounds like you’ve been busy in your garden and makes me itch to get out in mine. Still got a couple of small new beds to dig as I have Strawberries waiting to be planted and bare-rooted Raspberries arriving any day. I haven’t eaten kohlrabi before, but fellow allotmenteer has convinced me to try them out next year as said to be sweet and succulent and you can eat the leaves (cabbagey in flavour) too. Slightly obsessed with all the squash varieties on offer, especially the mini red and white turbans-but that’s for another post possibly!
on November 9, 2011 at 2:24 pm | Reply wellywoman

I wasn’t particularly adventurous this year, my first year on my allotment but my wish list for next year continues to grow. Not sure where I’m going to fit it all.
on December 12, 2011 at 8:49 am | Reply Inspirational Gardening Books « Out of my shed

[…] and plant trees and an A-Z of edible plants to grow, but then there’s so much more. Mixing ornamentals and edibles is the main thrust of the book, but it also includes foraging, seed saving, preserving, herbal […]
on December 21, 2011 at 7:57 pm | Reply Why do you grow flowers?

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