The concept of an edible garden right outside your kitchen door offers convenience and an
array of fresh and flavourful ingredients that can enhance your meals. Whether it’s a small
herb garden on your windowsill or an orchard, creating an edible garden has gained
momentum due to its sustainability, health, and environmental benefits.
Unlike a regular garden, an edible garden maximises the use of permanent edible plants,
including perennial vegetables, and decorative, edible shrubs. The motivation to create an
edible garden can be attributed to more sustainable food production, especially after
acknowledging the detrimental impact of the food industry on the environment, such as
deforestation, excessive palm oil usage and transportation.

Getting started:

The most common entry point into edible gardening is through vegetable plots. Choose a
handful of your favourite vegetables to begin with, cultivating them in abundance to gain
familiarity with their growth patterns and requirements. Raised planters are an excellent
choice, granting you control over the soil composition and drainage.
Alternatively, orchards offer a larger array of produce, though they take up a lot of space.
However, you can get dwarf fruit and nut trees which are ideal for smaller gardens. Orchards
produce a reliable harvest and also serve as havens for birds and insects, promoting a
healthy ecosystem.
Selecting the right plants is crucial to a thriving edible garden. It is important to choose
plants that you know you will enjoy and use in your own cooking. Here are some
suggestions for plants to have in an edible garden for great additions of flavour to your
cooking.
– Lemon verbena. A versatile herb with a lemony Sherbert taste that can make tea, be
infused in oil, and is great with fish dishes.
– Scots lovage. This herb resembles parsley or celery and adds a punchy flavour to
any meal.
– Cinnamon basil. With its distinctive purple flowers, this serves as a great ingredient
for teas and it comes back each year
– Tomatoes. Such as Stupice tomatoes, which are sweet and sharp.
– Cucamelon. These take up small spaces. They look like small melons and taste like
cucumbers, and are great in salads.
– Courgette. Yellow courgettes especially are slightly sweeter and are a great addition
to any meal.
– Salad leaves. Such as rocket or oak leaf lettuce. They can be planted in a shallow
tray and picked as and when they’re ready. To keep a continuous supply, plant new
seedlings every fortnight.

Flowers and Weeds

One thinks of Natursiums in salads, but there is also Bergamont, Day Lilly and Rose petals
that can be added to cakes, salads and soups.
Nettle soup is great (with sour cream) – make sure you pick the leaves from deep inside the
nettle area to avoid animal urine, and dandelion flowers as well as the roots baked in the
oven and ground as a coffee substitute.
As a rambler ground cover, try Nepalese Raspberries, and as a gap filler there are
Woodland strawberries which will soon spread amount the edges of paths
Herbs
Of course these are just a few: Fennel, chives, Sorrel, Angelica (good for damp ground)
Sade, Thyme, Oregano, lavender for cakes, Dill and Mint (keep in a pot to prevent
spreading)

Perennial Prosperity:

With proper care, perennial plants continue to return year after year, reducing the need for
frequent replanting. Fruit bushes like blackberries, raspberries, and blackcurrants offer an
assortment of returning fruits. Apples, cherries, pears, and plums continue to produce these
fruits year after year. Perennial vegetables can include asparagus, artichoke, perpetual
spinach and the mightily prolific kale and silver beet. These examples are also quite low
maintenance with high rewards. Make sure to add a steady supply of compost to ensure
these plants have enough nutrients to continue to provide every year.

Tips for a thriving edible garden:

– Opt for a sunny area with 6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily and that has well-draining
soil.
– If your garden does not boast naturally healthy soil, raised beds are great for small
spaces too.
– Add mulch to your edible plants to conserve moisture, control weeds, and moderate
soil temperature.
– Make sure you know the plants you are hosting for space purposes, for example
sweetcorn grows extremely tall, and so should be planted at the back of a patch.
– Instead of using chemical intervention against pests, consider planting strongly
scented plants such as basil, garlic, and chives, which act as natural pest control.
Creating an edible garden is a great way to produce great food to use in cooking that is
completely organic, tastes great, and is extremely fulfilling. In a world where sustainable
choices matter more than ever, creating an edible garden is more than a hobby, and can be
a step towards responsible living.

What to do in July:

Deadhead perennial flowers as they will often create a new flush of buds as you inhibit the energy of
the plant going into seed production. Plus the first flush of Hybrid and Patio roses may have finished
so deadhead them back to a couple of new, outward facing buds
It is safe to bring any tender plants out from your conservatory now and let me get a good dose of
sun now as who knows how long it will last!
Make sure any ponds don’t get swamped with blanket weed
Any shrubs that flowered in June can be cut back eg Wigelia, Choysia and Philadelphius
Any new plants that went in this year will dry out much faster than established plants as their roots
are not as plugged into the surrounding soil.
Keep pinching out side shoots on your tomatoes
Keep sowing salad for a continuous crop

Where to go this July:

The National Garden Scheme is still running.
Founded in 1927 the scheme encouraged people to open up their gardens to the public to raise
money for the newly formed district nurses role in poor urban areas. It has moved on since then,
from “a shilling a head” to raised over 20 million pounds for a variety of charities in the last 10 years.
If you go to the NGS website and type in ‘Sussex’ the dates you are free and you will find 36 gardens
that are opening their gates in July though each garden is just open for a day or two only. Most serve
tea and cakes.