Monty Don’s Grow Your Own summer berries
YesteRDAY, i wrote about the wonderful fruit that can be grown on trees of all sizes in your garden.
And today, in the final part of my Grow Your own series, i want to inspire and help you to grow fruit that is raised on shrubs and bushes and, in the case of strawberries and rhubarb, on herbaceous plants.
Nothing is more delicious than ripe fruit at the right time and place, and soft fruit produces some of the easiest and least troublesome edible crops that can be grown.
we all have our favourite berries and currants. indeed, most of us eat some every day, but far too few of us actually grow them in our own gardens even though they are easy, low- maintenance and often look terrific.
strawberries eaten still warm from the July sun, raspberries plucked from their canes, gooseberry fool in June, summer pudding in July, harvesting your own blueberries every morning for breakfast, or even simple stewed rhubarb and good yoghurt — all are outrageously good.
currants and gooseberries are resilient, will grow in shade and poor soil, are delicious, almost entirely free of maintenance and can be eaten and stored in lots of different ways while always remaining a treat. All this, and you need only a bush or two to have a fair quantity of fruit.
soft fruit is wonderfully decorative — think of the jewellike beads of redcurrants or rich stems of rhubarb. it can be mingled into a flower border, grown in its own little area or equally well in containers. Gooseberries and redcurrants grow well as cordons (that is, with a single stem) as well as fans trained against a fence, while raspberries are perfect for a shady fence or wall. Buying fruit that’s passable 365 days of the year is not hard. Growing your own takes a little more trouble and planning.
But the results are tastier and more satisfying than anything that money can buy. on top of that, you’ll find that the process of tending these very straightforward plants is deeply rewarding and will give you a terrific sense of achievement.