No veg plot? No problem!
Not every garden has room for a veg plot, but that needn’t hold you back. Look online for easy-to-assemble raised bed kits to turn a corner of your patio into a growing space. Or find a sunny, sheltered spot for a few large grow bags, which will keep your crops well fed for up to eight weeks. (Make sure they are deep enough so they don’t dry out too quickly.) You can grow potatoes very successfully in a strong bag – an old compost sack is ideal – while herbs and salads will grow happily in pots or window boxes. You could even try one of the new modular vertical growing systems you can fix to a wall. There are varieties of cherry tomato and strawberries bred specially for growing in hanging baskets – try ‘Tumbling Tom’ tomatoes or ‘Mara des Bois’ strawberries. Indeed, many seed companies have embraced the challenge of growing veg in small spaces – look for seeds sold as ‘patio varieties’. Alternatively, you can grow veg among your flowers: ‘Painted Lady’ runner beans look lovely growing up a wigwam of hazel poles; the pretty red and white flowers are edible, as well as the beans. White-flowered ‘Blue Lake’ French beans are equally decorative, and there are many types of small squash you can train over an arch or arbour. Rainbow chard, curly black kale, ‘Lollo Rossa’ lettuce and chives all make attractive bed edgings, while perennial vegetables, like cardoons and globe artichokes, are handsome architectural additions to the border. And many gardeners swear that courgettes do best growing on top of the compost heap!