INCLUDING…
POTATOES
Even if you’ve only got a balcony available you can grow some spuds in a recycled compost bag or large pot and enjoy the unbeatable taste of fresh new potatoes.
PARSNIPS
Sow these when the soil has warmed in April and they can be more or less forgotten about until winter, when the sweet roots will make for a brilliant soup or roast vegetable.
BEETROOT
A versatile crop that’s not just for pickling. Find just a square metre of space and you can sow straight in the soil to have fresh leaves and baby roots for salad, or larger tennis-ball size ones for roasting.
CARROTS
Grow these in long deep pots on the patio for an easy crunchy salad crop that is potentially much sweeter than the carrots you get in the shop! They can be stored in a cool dark place for many months.
Potatoes
From a delicious early harvest for a summer salad, to large spuds in autumn for jacket potatoes, this is one of the most versatile crops you can grow
PLANT Mar-Jun
HARVEST Jun-Dec
STORE In a cool, dark room indoors
Dug fresh from the garden, the first potatoes of the year are a melt-in-the-mouth gourmet delight that taste so much better than bought ones. New potatoes command high prices in the shops too, so for these reasons alone they’re well worth growing.
You can grow them in pots or in the ground, depending on how much space you have available. Choose a sunny site, ideally sheltered, with well-drained, fertile soil. For the best yields, add well-rotted compost or manure to the soil during autumn/winter. Or when planting, dig a trench and put a 5cm layer of garden compost into the base.
Plant the tubers 15cm deep and 30cm apart with 45cm between rows. If planting in bags, three tubers to a large recycled compost bag or potato planting bag is plenty. Fill the bag a third full with compost, plant the potatoes and top it up to cover the shoots as they grow.
If planting
