Edible plants make beau­ti­ful con­tainer gar­dens when you mix colours and textures.

Growing edi­ble plants can be as sim­ple as fill­ing a con­tainer with a 4-pack (or three) with gor­geous leafy greens instead of impa­tiens. In a few weeks you can scis­sor off some of the bounty to add to a sum­mer sup­per or salad. It’s a replen­ish­able feast; and one that is as attrac­tive as a planter filled with flow­er­ing plants. Using orna­men­tal, edi­ble plants means they are never out of flower.

In the con­tain­ers above, tex­tures and colours range from the frothy, airy foliage of bronze fen­nel, to the smooth waxy sheen of a red cab­bage, while bright green pars­ley makes a strik­ing con­trast with red let­tuce leaves.

Haskap berry bushes are in gar­den cen­tres now, includ­ing Fiesta Gardens.

Haskap berries are a won­der­ful new kind of berry (Lonicera caerulea,) which is sim­i­lar to a blue­berry but is actu­ally a mem­ber of the hon­ey­suckle fam­ily. They are also com­monly called Honeyberries. A del­i­cacy in Japan, the word Haskap or “Hasukappu” comes from the lan­guage of the Ainu, an ancient peo­ple from Hokkaido island.

the Ainu mean­ing of Haskap is “lit­tle present at the end of the branch” rather than “per­pet­ual youth and longevity”. Perhaps the best is to com­bine it to “A lit­tle present of per­pet­ual youth and longevity”

These new berries have a kiwi-like tex­ture with a unique flavour blend that some describe as a mix of blue­berry and rasp­berry. Like most dark pur­ple fruits they are high in antiox­i­dants, and are also a good source of vit­a­min C. Berries of all kinds are very good for you, and this is one lit­tle present you can grow in your own garden.

Strawberries are an almost no main­te­nance food plant in the home garden.

Now that so many of us are excited about edi­ble gar­dens, it’s time to think about food that comes back every year, with­out hav­ing to re-plant. One of the best ways to do this in your gar­den is to plant berries. They are one of the eas­i­est crops to man­age and keep on giv­ing year after year, with only a lit­tle maintenance.

Plants like straw­ber­ries are attrac­tive too, with pretty leaves and gor­geous fruit. They can grow be grown in con­tain­ers, or used as edg­ing along a path. Imagine step­ping out­side in the morn­ing and treat­ing your­self to a few mouth­fuls of your own fresh picked strawberries.

High organic lev­els, and a well-drained soil with full sun are the main require­ments for straw­ber­ries. One of the best things about grow­ing your own, is you can be sure they are organic. Strawberries are on the “Dirty Dozen” list of fruits that con­tain most pes­ti­cides when grown com­mer­cially by non-organic farms. Growing your own is a win-win.

Cold weather crops like peas can be planted in April and early May.

Many tasty veg­eta­bles can stretch their legs in your gar­den weeks before chill-averse crops like toma­toes  show up to the gar­den party. The gar­den cen­tre has a huge stock of these cold-hardy veg­gies that are ready to go into the gar­den, or in a planter, right now. Peas, Swiss chard, kale, cau­li­flower, broc­coli, let­tuces, beets, spinach, leeks, chives, cel­ery, cele­riac, arugula, and Brussels sprouts can be planted right now from already started 4-packs. Fiesta also has cold hardy herbs like sage, chives and oregano in stock. When pop­ping plants out of plas­tic 4-packs, push from the bot­tom. If roots are tightly wound, pull them free gen­tly with your fin­gers before putting in soil as same level they were grow­ing in.

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