Author Q&A: The Edible Garden

By Julia Scirrotto  on Friday 26 March 2010

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Gardeners’ World presenter and author Alys Fowler shows us how to grow edibles at home - even in the city

I'm no green thumb, but thanks to Alys Fowler's new grow-your-own handbook, The Edible Garden (£18.99, BBC Books), even I've been lured out onto my terrace to start planting. Her accessible (not to mention gorgeous) guide to producing everything from runner beans and artichokes to strawberries and rosemary has all the info you need to get growing, no matter how much (or how little) outdoor space you've got - plus delicious recipes to cook up with your harvest. ‘Whatever your space, you have room to grow something,' Fowler says. ‘Whether its mint for herbal teas, potatoes in a pot or a fruit tree for many generations to come, try growing something you can eat this year and I promise the rewards will be good. Just remember to water!' Here are her picks for what to grow depending on how much space you're working with:


If you only have room for window boxes ...
'Remember that window boxes can be quite harsh environments (baking sun, wind and not a great deal of water), so you need to choose your edible with that in mind. Nasturtiums are lovely, colourful, will hide ugly sills and still provide you with flowers to nibble on. They need full sun and don't mind poor soil. Basil will also do well on a sunny sill, but you'll need to water it often if you want lush growth. You can sow both at the end of April. For shadier sills, try mint or lemon balm. It's best if you buy these as small plants as they take a while from seed.'

If you have an urban terrace...
'These are ideal for lots of pots, and you can grow pretty much whatever your heart desires. The bigger the plant, the bigger the pot, so you'll need large, dustbin-sized (90 litres) pots for potatoes, courgettes and tomatoes. You can fit about three or four potato tubers or one courgette in a single dustbin. Salad crops have very shallow roots, so they need less space (six to eight inches is sufficient). Salads will do best where they'll get morning sun and a little afternoon shade. Rocket is the quickest, but cut-and-come-again salads are also very fast. Cucumbers, radishes, peas, beetroot, Swiss chard, carrots and chilli all work very well in pots. Remember to water them twice on hot days.'

If you have a back garden...

'You can grow literally anything you want, and with the extra space it's worth considering planting some fruit. Apples grown on dwarf root stock (M27 is very dwarfing and will produce a tree to about head height; M9 and M26 will also produce smaller trees) are ideal for back gardens. You can also grow trained fruit such as pears, medlar, quince, nectarine and cherries against a wall (though the cherries will need to be covered if you don't want the birds to eat them all). If these seem a little too much work, try soft fruit such as blueberries, strawberries, raspberrries, currants or gooseberries. Red currants and gooseberries will take a degree of shade, so are useful in that respect. The other really do need full sun to flourish. Look for two-year-old raspberry canes and within a year you'll be picking a bounty. If you're planting blueberries, which like acidic soil, it's a good idea to mulch with pine bark or composted bracken.'

Happy planting!

Review by Julia Scirrotto

Release date: Friday 26 March 2010

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