Whilst we think that all veggies taste better homegrown, there are some that just are SO much tastier when you can eat them as soon as they’re harvested. These are our recommendations for 2024 growing….
Mangetout & Sugarsnap Peas
You’ll get a wonderful harvest, for several weeks, but better than that, you can eat them raw straight from the plant for the sweetest crunch. They taste amazing, and make a lovely healthy snack as you’re pottering in the veg patch. Mangetout and Sugarsnap peas shipped over from other countries in plastic packaging have nothing on these homegrown beauties!
Sweetcorn
Honestly, when you get to pick a corn-on-the-cob at the perfect time, when the tassels have turned almost black and the kernels are plump and juicy, and then cook it within a few minutes of harvesting, you will never want to eat shop-bought sweetcorn again. It is just so much tastier, full of flavour and sweetness.
Cucumber
We offer two types of cucumber, this Marketmore green cucumber which has small spines on the skin, and Crystal Lemon, which is a yellow skinned, round cucumber. Both are flavoursome in a way that the standard long green cucumber you get from the shops just isn’t. They tend to be crunchier and more refreshing, and they really make a difference to salads. If you have a greenhouse or a sunny sheltered garden, they are so worth growing.
Beans
Whether you choose to grow French Beans, Runner Beans or Broad Beans, you can be confident that homegrown will taste way better. Again, it’s that thing of beans that might have travelled some 3,000 miles from Kenya wrapped in plastic, or beans picked fresh the very same day as you cook them. The latter just have more flavour.
Salad Leaves
When you grow your own salad leaves, you can grow a wide range with different flavours and pick a few leaves from each plant when you come to make a salad (rather than buying a bag of mixed leaves.) We find that the flavours tend to be punchier, especially with leaves like Wild Rocket, Mizuna and Frills Mustard leaves. It is also said that one of the most nutritious things you can eat is fresh organically grown salad leaves straight from the garden – they hold so many nutrients that get lost after being stored. And, as a real plus point, salad leaves are super easy to grow and take up little space.