Edible But Beautiful

When the weather allows I am out in the garden digging up old shrubs and turning their beds into new vegetable and fruit beds ready for the new year and the start of the season. So far I have created three new beds this season. The first I dug is planted with strawberries grown from this summer's runners. The second is for raspberries and the last will be partly given to french beans. I love digging. There is scientific evidence that chemical compounds released by micro-organisms in the soil is a natural anti-depressant. For more see:  https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/antidepressant-microbes-soil.htm   No wonder I feel so happy in the garden. Another reason for I feel so happy when digging is that I have very good soil. I live in a terraced house in an old Cotswold town. There have been houses and gardens on this site for hundreds of years - back to the middle ages in fact. In the newer parts of town the soil is lias clay. But here it is a...

It's that time of year, when gardeners settle down with their seed catalogues to plan their gardens for next year. As a newbie I am very tempted to buy seeds and frequently succumb to that temptation.  I am always on the lookout for unusual edible plants with brightly coloured fruits, leaves, flowers. One of my favourite hunting grounds is not available to most British gardeners. I spend a lot of time in the Czech Republic and make a point of visiting the garden centres there.  Czech flower gardens cannot compete with ours, not having the mild British climate, but the Czechs are great vegetable and fruit gardeners. Their shops are full of varieties you don't see in the UK. Some are old heritage varieties. I noticed in the DT Brown Catalogue my sister lent me that all the heritage garlic cloves listed were Czech varieties. I bought mine in the Czech Republic for a fifth of the price. Others have been bred to the Czech market. It is a market in which people ...