Here is a list of easy or useful to grow plants that I’ll hopefully always be adding to. I’ll include what I’ve learnt about them and my own experiences – whether bad or good. By carefully choosing the right plants and varieties that work for your
- Space (or lack of)
- growing conditions (soil, sun, cold)
- household (dietary lifestyle, children and pets)
- time (or lack of)
you spare yourself the heartache of things like …
…planting a tomato that promises huge juicy fruit that gives you big green things that you have to ripen in the fruit bowl next to your bananas for weeks because you don’t have a greenhouse (do I sound bitter?)…
… planting seeds and then nothing ever happening…
…that grapevine that you grew not being hardy enough for the winter and dying in the first frost.
Right now, I’ll be honest and say there’s no shame in those things. That kind of thing happens all the time. There are some seeds that I plant year after year and still feel sad when they don’t grow, despite knowing that they didn’t sprout the previous year. Also, I chose a grapevine for the garden because it was hardy down to -15 degrees Celsius. It survived fine in the winter, but the unseasonably warm early spring caused it to begin growing too early and a late cold spell killed all the leaves. Even with the best planning things will fail. However, in balance, even if you completely neglect some plants, they can still provide you with food.
I’ve put the plants into some loose groups in the menu, and each group has a little intro that you may find helpful if you’re fairly new to growing edibles. Some of the plants fall into a couple of categories. There are some perennials that are also rampant self seeders, or perennials that make good vertical plants. If overwhelmed by the choice of things to grow, start by reading about perennials.
Not a Horticulturist 