5 questions …with a vegetable gardener
Jo Campbell is a kitchen gardener who currently grows for Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles
1 How do you make vegetable gardens both useful and beautiful?
I plant crops in different combinations of colour, form and texture, and use salvaged decorative pieces to soften the geometry of the layout. Combining herbs and edible flowers also opens up the colour palette. Plots can be edged with herb borders, such as flowering thymes and purple and white chives, while splashes and rows of edible flowers, like calendula, borage and anise hyssop, attract bees and hoverflies.
2 Any tips on bringing order to a chaotic veg patch?
Growing too much can be overwhelming. Don’t be tempted to fill the entire space and sow everything in one go, leading to it all being ready at the same time. Stagger veg throughout the season.
3 What are your failsafe vegetables?
I find kalettes, or flower sprouts, easier to grow than traditional sprouts; they are a sturdy winter crop with purple foliage. Globe artichokes are both architectural and tasty – the bees love any that are left to fully flower. Thinly sliced Barbabietola di Chiogga beetroot is a sweet-tasting addition to salads, and cavalo nero is always a staple, for its flavour and good looks.
4 Any new varieties you’ve had success with?
Chard Peppermint has vibrant neon pink and white stems, which retain their colour when cooked. Pea Rosakrone is a heritage variety with clusters of pretty rose-pink and creamy white flowers, and cabbage Nagoya is delicious and available in bright pink and white.
5 How about heritage vegetables?
These can offer a rainbow of tasty produce. The peas of Golden Sweet and Ezetha’s Krombek Blau, for example, are rarely produced commercially because of their unwieldy growth, but are a must-have in a potager garden, supported by pea-sticks or woven obelisks to add structure.