Tasting notes
In the first of a new series on gardeners focussed on growing for flavour we talk to veg expert Anna Greenland
In the first of a new series on growing for flavour, kitchen garden expert Anna Greenland reveals her favourite herbs and vegetables
Hard-working herbs and vegetables
are the focus of Anna Greenland’s small urban garden in Oxford. From the start, she pinpointed the plants she loved to eat and now, after a year, the garden is an extension of her kitchen. “It’s like having a little spice cabinet,” she explains.
A keen advocate of Charles Dowding’s no-dig method, Anna filled the raised beds with wellrotted manure, building the soil up from the old lawn beneath. Wooden pallets and an old bathtub helped to increase the growing space and an unwanted door was repurposed to create a cold frame where she could bring on seedlings.
Anna has lots of experience of growing edibles. She was head vegetable gardener at Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxford, and the kitchen garden at Soho Farmhouse, also in Oxfordshire, was her handiwork. She’s now a consultant for both. Her involvement in the taste trials at Le Manoir, gave her a clear idea of which cultivars offer the most in terms of flavour and productivity.
Time, and its availability, was crucial in deciding what to grow in her garden. She avoids vegetables suited to successional sowings, such as beetroot, and large-headed, one-crop types like cauliflower, as “it wouldn’t be practical to keep sowing all through the summer”. Asparagus is also out, since “you enjoy it for two weeks of the year, but you need a big area to produce a decent amount”.
Plants that crop over a long period, such as kale and chard, went to the top of Anna’s list, along with full-f lavoured leaves and herbs, such as shiso and lemon verbena, used to lift the f lavour of vegetables and salads. She maximises space by growing climbing edibles such as ‘Tromboncino’ squash and cucamelons up tepees and ‘Delicata’ squash along the garden wall. In the shadier parts of the garden, she grows mint, sorrel and lemon balm. Using all parts of the plant is also important. She chose to grow celery leaf over celery because you can use the leaves, stems, roots and seeds.
In particular, Anna favours health-conscious, sustainable food, and sour flavours as an antidote to sweetness. “Flavour is headed towards realising the value of plants and all the sensations they can bring,” she says. “People are looking for that hit of what vegetables truly taste like.”
1 Aloysia citrodora (lemon verbena) An all-star herb with a lemony, sherberty taste that is wonderful steeped in hot water as tea, infused in oil and used with fish, or used as a refreshing flavouring for sorbet. It has a divine smell that can instantly elevate your mood with a few sniffs. 2.5m. AGM*. RHS H3, USDA 8a-10b†. 2 Ligusticum scoticum (Scots lovage) Low-growing plant with vibrant, red stems and pretty leaves. Great as attractive groundcover and works well in pots too. It gives a punchy hit of flavour, a bit like celery or parsley. Make a herb butter with the finely shredded leaves – delicious with fresh radishes. It also pairs well with eggs. You can steam the stems too, and use the seeds in biscuits or bread. Very easy to grow. 90cm.
3 Perilla frutescens var. purpurascens (purple-leaved beefsteak plant or purple shiso) There is an air of intrigue about this plant, with its striking, dark-purple/red leaves and pretty little purple flowers late in the season. Perfect if you want to maximise a small space but include beautiful, structural plants. Flavour is a mixture of cinnamon and basil, a musky, bitter-sweet herb that is great in Asian dishes. Use young leaves in salads and larger leaves in stir fries, or cook in tempura batter. The leaves also produce a vibrant red dye, great for adding to pickling liquid. It is tricky getting it to germinate, but worth the effort. If you can’t get it going, Jekka McVicar sells healthy plants from her nursery (see suppliers’ list on page 88). 1.2m.
4 Beta vulgaris ‘Flamingo Pink’ (chard) Chard is incredible as it keeps on giving, and is very nutritious and easy to grow. I steam it and then sautée it with garlic and butter. You get two vegetables in one plant, as the leaves and stalks have quite different flavours. The stalks are robust and earthy – similar to beetroot – and the leaves have that iron flavour that tastes like it is adding years to your life. Both work well with cheeses, cream, pine nuts and raisins or added to pies and galettes. Cook the stems a little longer than the leaves. Sow in modules in spring and you can be cropping all the way through to Christmas. 45cm.
5 Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (ice plant) This is much loved by chefs for its glistening appearance and succulent leaves. It is juicy, crunchy and a little salty, reminiscent of some of the sea vegetables. Chefs like tiny pieces for decoration, but I let mine grow and harvest side shoots for salads. Grow it with your salad vegetables – it sprawls along the bed and doesn’t take up much room. 20cm.
6 Salvia elegans ‘Scarlet Pineapple’ (pineapple sage) Add leaves to cocktails for a refreshing pineapple aroma. It also works well chopped finely with fruit. It has beautiful flowers in the autumn, but it isn’t hardy, so you need to bring it indoors before the frost. 1m. RHS H2. USDA 8a-10b.
7 Ocimum basilicum ‘Cinnamon’ (cinnamon basil) I love all basil. There are many wonderful flavours besides cinnamon, including lime, lemon, Thai and so on. ‘Cinnamon’ produces lovely purple flowers. I use the leaves in summer spring rolls, and make cinnamon basil tea with a squeeze of lime. 45cm.
8 Foeniculum vulgare ‘Purpureum’ (bronze fennel) This herb – not bulb – fennel is another chef’s favourite. The edible flowers can be used for decoration. If you shake the pollen off, it looks like a dusting of gold – great on fish dishes or even in desserts (like fennel pollen ice cream) – and it also adds a subtle aniseed flavour. Dishes also look beautiful with the addition of fennel fronds. When seeds develop later in the year, pick the green seeds to nibble on for a punch of flavour or add to dressings, or allow them to dry on the plant and store for later use. I steep fennel seeds in hot water with lemon verbena for a refreshing tea and they are said to be good for digestion and bloating. You will continue to get fronds into the winter, so this is a really good-value plant in a small space. 1.8m. RHS H5. USDA 4a-9b.
Flavour is headed towards realising the value of plants and all of the sensations they bring
10 Solanum lycopersicum ‘Stupice’ (tomato) This tomato produces flavoursome fruits outdoors in the British summer, which is brilliant if you have no room for a greenhouse. It tastes great – the right balance of sweet and sharp. It is an old cultivar from Czechia and crops heavily from early summer all the way through. If you are a lazy gardener, this one is great as you don’t need to pinch out all the side shoots or stake it if you don’t want to – you can just let it ramble. 2m.
11 Cucurbita maxima ‘Ute Indian’ (winter squash) I grew this for the first time this year and will certainly do so again. It’s chestnutty, sweet and earthy, and one winter squash provided meals for a whole week – roasted, as soup, and in curry. It would be great for making ravioli as it’s not too wet. I grew mine in a raised bed; it put on lots of growth and I trained it along the top of my fence. 12 Pelargonium ‘Attar of Roses’ (scented geranium) Lovely for infusing delicate rose flavour into cream for panna cottas or ice creams. Also makes a beautiful syrup for drizzling over desserts. The flowers are edible and look pretty in salads or on dessert plates. Dig up and bring indoors over winter as it’s not hardy. Works well in a pot for a small space. 60cm. AGM. RHS H1C.
13 Cucurbita moschata ‘Tromboncino’ (squash) A great plant for a small space as you can grow it up and over a teepee or fence. The squashes are the shape of a trombone, and can get as big, but at this size they are best used for decoration. I tend to crop them like small courgettes throughout the summer for their gentle, nutty flavour – far more delicate than a courgette. 1.2m.
14 Melothria scabra (cucamelon) These are great for a small space as they produce good yields and don’t taken up much room. I grow mine up hazel pea sticks and they romp away with no intervention needed. They look like little watermelons, but have a very different taste. When you eat them, they produce a sharp, cucumber-like burst of flavour in your mouth, which makes you realise why they are also known as Mexican sour gherkins. The citrus tang and crunch makes them a perfect addition to summer salads and I love them in a salade niçoise. They also make great pickles (pickled whole), which are perfect as presents as they look so pretty. 2m.
15 Achillea ageratum (English mace) This is a relatively unknown herb, but deserves a place in the herb garden, for beauty and flavour. Not to be confused with mace (the outer husk of nutmeg), it is a member of the Achillea genus. The flavour is somewhere between caraway and mint. It works well chopped into soups, stews or sausages, or with vegetables and chicken, but use it sparingly. Let it flower and you will have beautiful lemon-yellow and white blooms in summer. 45cm.
16 Cucurbita pepo ‘Burpee’s Golden’ (courgette) This is a great, old, open-pollinated courgette. I love the sunshine colour of yellow courgettes – it marks summer for me. For a go-to summer dish, use raw, julienned strips in a salad with lots of mint, dill and olive oil. Because the flavour is so subtle, it is a great vehicle for adding in an abundance of herbs, oils and vinegars. The difference in flavour between a green and yellow courgette is negligible, but the cheerful colour alone somehow improves the taste for me, and I would argue that yellow courgettes are slightly sweeter. 75cm.
17 Agastache foeniculum (anise hyssop) One of my favourite herbs. The chopped leaves bring out an earthy sweetness in salads and vegetables. The flowers are pretty scattered over salads too. Sprigs look attractive in cocktails and add an interesting aroma. Bees love this plant too. 70cm.
People are increasingly looking for that hit of what vegetables truly taste like