Britain Get Growing: Plants to Grow in your Kitchen Garden
Growing herbs in your kitchen is a breeze. A kitchen garden can be budget-friendly too which we all need as food prices continue to rise. Herbs are not only sensory plants for our eyes and ears, but they can transform a dish into something so flavoursome and aromatic.
Growing a kitchen garden is easier than you think and doesn’t take up much space. It can be placed in a sunny spot on your windowsill, dining table, worktop or breakfast bar for ease when cooking. Pick a windowsill that gets four to six hours of sunlight, preferably a south or southwest-facing one. Keep sowing batches every few weeks and you’ll have a regular supply all over summer and beyond.
British Garden Centres’ top herb picks for an indoor kitchen garden include:
Basil: Perfect for Italian food, an easy aromatic to grow that needs soil that drains well and lots of sun.
Chives: These have an oniony taste and are a must-have for sprucing up potato salad, cream cheese, soups and other savoury dishes.
Coriander: A herb that grows fast with a big flavour for Asian food.
Mint: An amazing addition to roast lamb, salad, baby potatoes or summer cocktails.
Thyme: A perennial herb with small highly scented leaves that gives some zest to poultry, meat and game dishes, and is ideal for flavouring soups.
You can also grow a kitchen garden close to your back door, so you have fresh produce just feet away! Growing vegetables in allocated beds can make your garden much easier and you can simply mark out with pegs and string.
Our favourite picks for an outdoor kitchen are:
Tomatoes: Big on taste with a great flavour from ripening in the sun, tomatoes are a kitchen staple and can be used in so many dishes or eaten on their own.
Peppers: Give your salads and dishes a sweet and tasty flavour with vibrant bell peppers. Ideal when added to mixed roasted vegetables, they are refreshing and crunchy and can be grown in patio containers too.
Courgettes and Squashes: Both are versatile vegetables to grow and use in the kitchen and can be chargrilled, added to ratatouille or stir fries, curries or sliced into discs as an alternative to potatoes. The courgette flowers can also be eaten too.
Strawberries: Synonymous with summer, cocktail drinks and Wimbledon, strawberries are a must for an outdoor kitchen garden. They can be grown in the ground, in containers or in hanging baskets. They just need a warm sunny spot out of the wind.
Salad leaves: These are a great way to add extra flavour and nutrient value to your summer dishes. The great thing about salad leaves is you can just pick what you want and if you sow more seeds every week, you’ll have a steady supply over the coming months.
