If you haven't space for a vegetable garden,
you can always grow some of your favourites in pots on the patio.
Use a soil-based compost such as John Innes
No 3 and feed twice weekly with diluted tomato feed for fruiting crops or
liquid seaweed for general crops. In summer, they will need watering as
much as twice daily.
If your containers are for display as well,
grow cut-and-come-again salad leaves such as 'Mesclun' and 'Saladin'
instead of a hearted lettuce. And have replacements on standby once you've
pulled up baby carrots with their feathery tops.
Look for dwarf varieties of vegetables -
golden bush courgettes, peppers and aubergines are all good container
subjects and try to get plants which won't need staking.
If you are happy to water frequently, grow
trailing tomatoes in hanging baskets or oakleaf lettuce in window
boxes.
