Potatoes may have had their chips as Britain gets warmer
POTATOES and lettuce will have to be replaced in Britain by small, root vegetables and dandelion leaves as a warming climate means we cannot rely on traditional crops, Kew Gardens has said.
Horticulturalists and scientists at the gardens are working to see which food plants can be grown to resist increasing pests and diseases, sunnier summers and warmer, wetter winters.
Next week, a television programme showing how gardeners and scientists worked together during lockdown at the gardens will begin on Channel 5.
Helena Dove, who runs the kitchen garden at Kew, grows crops picked by scientists to see how they fare in Britain. She said that potato blight, a disease that can destroy whole crops, is becoming more common because of the climate. At some point it may become unviable to grow them, she believes.
Two knobbly little roots, Oculus tuberosa and Tropaeolum tuberosum, are being tested in the hope they can be substituted in future. “The former is a little lemony root, it does really well,” Ms Dove said. “We also have a mustardy root crop, and sweet potatoes are doing well as well. They could be a replacement. We won’t know for tens of years but we have to start somewhere.”
Ms Dove is also working to find hardier alternatives to lettuce, which may not survive hot, dry summers. “We are growing tropical leaves, orache, tree spinach. They are traditionally grown for their grain but the leaves are edible so they sort of replace spinach.
“We are also growing dandelions which have really bitter but delicious leaves. They will keep growing through anything.”
Kew Gardens: A Year in Bloom begins on Channel 5 on Thursday at 8pm