Because they're worth it

The stuff you need to grow yourself

My column in The Sunday Times 2 March 2025

What are the most satisfying things to grow? That’s what I was asked recently by someone who was about engage in the annual ritual of browsing the seed websites for the first time. My first answers came in rapid succession, but then I had to do some hard thinking.

Like, are aubergines worth the trouble? Even with the easiest variety, Moneymaker F1 in a good, sunny season? Are they really that much better than the big glossy ones that are cheap all year round in the supermarkets? Perhaps not, but I’ve sown some anyway.

And what about peas? They take up a lot of space, are prey to mice and crop for maybe a couple of weeks, producing a few handfuls when podded. Well, if you have the space and the time and a ferocious attitude to rodents, plus a functioning set of tastebuds, the answer has to be yes. But with all of those reservations.

Top of the No Hesitation list is tomatoes. Whatever about the “heirloom” varieties you can buy in the posher food shops, there’s frankly no other way of getting the most magically intense flavour than growing them yourself. It’s not just the freshness, it’s the varieties. No commercial grower is going to bother with the likes of Harbinger or Gardener’s Delight, because they simply don’t have the shelf-life. As for rarities like Yellow Queen or Black Russian, Tim’s Taste of Paradise or Rosella, forget it. You simply have to GIY – and you don’t need a greenhouse or a polytunnel. A porch or a conservatory will do fine. But it’s best to choose indeterminate varieties, also known as cordons, because they will grow tall and not sprawl. Determinate or bush varieties go all over the place. Try www.brownenvelopeseeds.com for lots of off-beat varieties with the emphasis on taste.

You can now get Padron peppers in Dunnes Stores much of the time but I still prefer to grow my own simply because they are there when I want them. And they are much easier than other capsicums and chillies.

So, what else is really worthwhile? This is only the second time that I’ve managed to keep salad crops going through the Winter and it looks like they will plough on through the Spring too. If a lettuce is devoid of wildlife and the leaves can be placed directly into the salad bowl – a rarity, admittedly – and the white juice or latex seeps out and mixes with the dressing, you will have a salad to conjure with. Unlike tomatoes, the joy of your own salad is largely down to freshness. A Little Gem that you’ve grown will deliver many times more pleasure than the one you buy because you can eat within minutes of picking. Admittedly, you will be very lucky to have your own Little Gem in December when the ones from the supermarket (and probably southern Spain) do very nicely, thank you.

Of course, there are exciting flavours too, especially the bitter ones you get with endives and radicchio and the like. And it’s much easier to grow your own Oriental Winter leaves, like mizuna and mibuna, than to buy them. Plus they usually self-seed so one sowing will do.

Broad beans are very hard to come by and must be just about the easiest crop to grow. Sow now, about 5 cm apart each way and they will do the rest. A bit of support is helpful if you’re in a windy spot and when the pods have set it’s not a bad idea to nip out the growing tips as they are beloved of blackfly. Only if you have them in the garden can you harvest them when still very small and tender; then you can dip them in really good olive oil and some sea salt.

Another delicacy that is very hard to buy is courgette flowers. I grow courgettes mainly for the blossoms (for stuffing or crisping in tempura) on the basis that once you’ve had the first, say, dozen actual courgettes of the season, the excitement palls. It soon becomes apparent that courgettes are more of a vehicle for flavours or, indeed, textures, than an end in themselves. I’ll happily grow six or eight plants for the flowers.

If you have a good greengrocer you should be able to get globe artichokes during much of the year, big fleshy ones from much warmer climes. But they won’t be nearly as fresh as your own. A glut will allow you to cook dishes involving just the hearts (or fonds, as the French say) without the wild extravagance of buying lots. And anyway globe artichokes look great in a flower border.

You will be hard put to find salsify or scorzonera in a shop or even a farmer’s market but if you have space, they are very easy to grow (and virtually identical apart from skin colour). The flower buds, dipped in batter and fried, make an intriguing starter. Get your guests to try guessing what they are eating. The roots, steamed and skinned, have a very subtle flavour and are sometimes referred to as the vegetable oyster – and they are good, too, in batter, a dish to which I was introduced, years ago by Rowley Leigh, the man who created modern British cooking, as he has been called.

New potatoes? It’s certainly worth having even a handful for that first taste of the season, perhaps grown in pots or bags to save space. There’s something a bit magical about them, especially if you have young children or grandchildren involved. And it might turn a young mind to gardening.