Photo: Chiot’s Run / Flickr

If you like growing your own, consider perennials. Rather than having to sow seeds from scratch every year, choose plants like asparagus, artichokes and South American oca which will keep growing and producing vegetables for many seasons. Growing these vegetables will also make an amazing difference to your carbon footprint. The veggies we buy in the supermarket take 10 times more energy to produce than they provide us with. And when you grow your own, not only do you reduce your carbon footprint, but you can choose to use environmentally-friendly methods, too.

Asparagus

Asparagus can take up quite a bit of space and needs to grow undisturbed. It also takes some time to grow to maturity – up to two years – but if you have the time and patience there is no comparison between the taste of home-grown asparagus and that of the Peruvian imports you’ll find in the supermarket. Take a look at the BBC’s Garden Guides for tips on growing asparagus.

Artichokes

Artichokes are well worth growing just for their appearance. So you can harvest your artichokes sooner, get hold of rooted suckers rather than planting them from seed. Still, be prepared to wait two years for them to mature. Then get creative with them – they can be steamed, boiled or pickled Italian-style.

Oca

Oca is a South American alternative to the potato. It’s a tuber with a lemony flavour that gets sweeter if matured in the sun. It’s not as striking as artichokes and asparagus, but it’s easy to grow, immune to blight and you won’t always find it in the supermarket.

Grow organic

To grow your veggies organically, choose a natural fertiliser made from seaweed or horse manure. These fertilisers release slowly, improve overall soil quality, and won’t burn a plant’s roots. When it comes to pests, try using neem oil or diluted lavender essential oil to repel them.

Tags: vegetables