Challenging what edible gardens can be

* I was invited to the press preview for and provided with a pair of tickets to Gardeners’ World Live so I’m marking posts from the show as 'Ad’ - as usual my views and opinions are very much my own. Be sure to check out all of my posts from the show.

This isn’t any kitchen garden. It’s one that challenges what edible gardens can be, and does it really well. It was one of my favourite gardens at the show, and as is so often the case every time you looked you saw something more.

Initially the borders appear purely ornamental, but every plant in this garden is edible.

Every plant.

Wow.

And you’ll even spot some conventional vegetables in there, along with plenty of inspiration I’m sure.

A colourful round bug hotel filled with pipes and bug friendly material, with the greenhouse in the background

As with every garden, and one that grows edibles especially, insects are important and so the bug hotel makes every insect welcome. The round corten steel exterior filled with pipes of varying sizes, themselves filled with insect friendly materials also looked good.

Sweet peas climbing a rope over the arch with sunflowers in the background growing alongside the fence
Luscious black tomatoes also using the other side of the arch as their support

As I walked around the garden - in fact I went round twice - I kept seeing more and more plants, some challenged me as being edible, but they were. The cannas I struggled with but its the root that you can eat, and while not something many of us normally have on our plate, it met the criteria for the garden.

Clearly I was far too excitable about the mushrooms growing along the fence as I’ve chopped part of them off - unbelievably this is the best picture I’ve got.

Mushrooms growing in a black hexagonal structure along the wooden slatted fence

In the greenhouse the plants were enjoying the very warm day, but I was more taken with the extra growing space that these pea shoots and micro herbs were in. I’m keen to get some of these when I get a greenhouse sorted for here - as my plan is to have a greenhouse on the smaller side, so being able to make full use of its space is likely to be key.

pea shoots growing in a clear container which is stuck to the greenhouse door/windows
A closer look at the pea shoots and their clear containers which attach to the glass with large suction pads

It really was a special garden, and well designed by Lucy Hutchinson from She Grows Veg - who also has a fabulous Instagram feed, so do go and check that out for plenty more growing inspiration. It’s also a garden I enjoyed revisiting today on this greyest of grey and wet days.

Roll on the spring!

* With thanks to Gardeners’ World for inviting me to Gardeners’ World Live, it was as fabulous as ever!