Fruit and vegetables

DAVE ALLAN

GROWING fruit and veg on the patio is easy and rewarding. You can expect a small but steady supply of your own fresh food for many months. And don’t forget all the varieties that look as good as they taste.

If you don’t have space to grow from seed, garden centres and mail order firms carry good selections of young plants. If you are looking for soft fruit or unusual tomatoes, try Lubera, an innovative company with an ever-widening range of its own varieties. Suttons is certainly worth exploring and the Organic Catalogue has added organic plants to its range.

Most of the varieties I mention here sit well in containers and raised beds but, with more space for a large root run, some will grow larger in raised beds. You can put the small, self-supporting raspberry Ruby Beauty in a tiny 10 litre pot and you will get a suitably tiny plant; give it some elbow room in a raised bed and you’ll have a decent-sized version.

Sun and shelter are also critical for many of these plants. In Scotland, determinate bush tomato varieties are more reliable than indeterminate cordon ones outdoors as they are faster-growing and slightly tougher. Of the many varieties available, Lubera’s latest yellow-fruiting Ida Gold or Fuzzy Wuzzie, red with yellow stripes, are worth a go.

But you need a warm, favoured spot. And, without that, also forget about delicious Pysalis peruviana, Cape gooseberries. I find they work in a pot next to a south-facing wall, go mad and squeeze through cracks in the greenhouse wall, but sulkily survive in an exposed open bed. A different variety, Physalis pruinosa Biscuit, is available from Lubera. It grows to around 50cm, producing a decent crop of small fruit. But remember all parts of the plant other than the fruit are poisonous. Patio containers must look full and burgeoning for as much of the year as possible. And, for good structure, you’ll want some (relatively) statuesque plants and others gently lolling over and softening the edges.

Courgettes provide a fine crop, and cucumbers can climb high up a frame; you might also want to extend the season with the odd kale plant. Peacock White, with its fine feathery leaves, is considered an ornamental in the US but its tender, sweet foliage is brilliant