Edible Gardens- time for a revolution!

Food gardens can be both beautiful and useful and are returning as fashionable statements in current landscapes.

There is a certain connection with the world through growing edible plants which makes a productive garden quite different from gardens that are only looked at through the windows of a house or windscreen of a car.

A traditional vegetable garden takes time and effort to maintain but whether you maintain it yourself or get someone else to do it for you productive plants provide the opportunity to walk in the garden and pick fresh fruit and vegetables, something which should be on every ones list of things to do.

Of all the gardens you can have, a well-planned edible garden is the one that can genuinely fill the senses; from looks and perfume to touch and taste it is all there.

An intelligent use of selected edible plants in an ornamental garden can create a productive garden with little extra work, so there is no need to create a separate area if that doesn’t suit the style of the property.

Apricot ‘Moorpark’

I love the idea that gardens should be both beautiful and useful, lived in and enjoyed. If they don’t do this then something is missing.

This ideology reminds me of the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 1800’s to 1910 and beyond.

William Morris who is credited as the founder of the international design movement is quoted as saying ‘Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful’.

The Arts and Crafts movement was born as a response to the industrial revolution that saw machinery and mechanisation change the way we as people lived in the world and expressed who we were.

The Arts and Craft Movement believed in Craftsmanship, Truth and beauty in design and Harmony with nature. The movement was almost revolutionary at the time but perhaps it is time for the revolution to return.

Craftsmanship

Truth and beauty in design

Harmony with nature

These three things should be part of every landscape.

Tips

Every garden however large or small should have edible plants to pick somewhere, whether they are grouped in a patch either formally or informally or simply used as ornamental plants with an added purpose.

Growing in the ground beats growing in a container any day of the week. Growing in the ground is generally easier and certainly more sustainable and natural.

If you are growing from seed timing is everything. Keep a garden diary because advice on seed packets is only a very rough guide.