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’re looking for soft fruit or unusual tomatoes, try Lubera, an innovative company with an ever-widening range of their own varieties. Suttons are certainly worth exploring and the Organic Catalogue has now added organic plants to their range.
Most of the varieties I mention here sit well in containers and raised beds, though 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’ll 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 is 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 U.S., but its tender, sweet foliage is brilliant raw or cooked. And it blends beautifully with its neighbours, possibly the equally tasty Red Russian kale or Cavolo Nero.
Nothing could be more eye-catching than ‘Bright Lights’ chard. But it’s big and fairly slow-growing, so surround it with ‘cut and come again’ catch crops. Or try micro greens, like baby peas. Choose a fast-growing tall variety like the mange-tout, ‘Spring Blush’. Simply soak the seed for a couple of days and plant. When 10cm tall, cut and add a little extra to a salad. Repeat sow while there’s room.
And use quick-growing root crops for vacant spaces, again direct sown. Sow small carrots, like Nantes 2 or Mignon up till late July/early August and the Organic Catalogue offers a ‘Colourful Mix’ of purple, yellow and white carrot plants in biodegradable pots. Quick-growing beetroot and rocket also do the job.
And let a cascade of nasturtiums, with tasty leaves, flowers and fruits, soften the edges. Strawberries are another possibility.
Other perennial fruits widen the taste palate. Unlike its traditional cousins, the thornless bramble, ‘Little Black’ reaches a modest 70-100cm, but still produces a fine harvest. And blueberries are the best way of extending the soft fruit season. ‘Blautrop’, a compact 50cm tall evergreen, is ideal for a tight corner.
Plant of the week
Geum ‘Totally Tangerine’. Soft apricot orange flowers are held well above the foliage. Plant it in a sunny position for best colour. Flowers over a long period.
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