Salads. Episode 2.
Alys Fowler attempts to avoid shop-bought fruit and vegetables and live off her own, home-grown produce. It’s no easy task because Alys doesn’t want to turn her garden into an allotment, so she’s growing her fruit and vegetables among her flowers. Alys weaves salad crops through the flower borders of her small urban back garden. Salad crops are some of the easiest things to grow and the tastiest to eat. Lettuces, tomatoes and cucumbers can go from garden to plate in minutes.
I’ve forgotten where she lives – Bristol, Birmingham, one of those B words, but it looks like she gets good hot sun in her garden. I really loved, loved, loved the greenhouse she made out of old doors with stained glass/leadlight windows. Too bad it didn’t save her tomatoes from blight but it looked great. I would even have something like that in my kitchen! I didn’t really understand just how bad blight could be here and watching this program depressed me a little as I planned to grow lots of different types of tomatoes this year. I know my neighbour lost all hers last year too 🙁 but I thought it was more bad luck than as common as it seems to be. Grim when not even being in a greenhouse can save them!
Anyway, the cucumbers looked great too growing up that green plastic stuff against the wall. I’m not sure it’s hot enough here to grow them outside of a greenhouse but I can try. Loved the cut and come again salad leaves too. Seen that done before but it just looks great grown in a little tray near the back door where you can just pop out for some lettuce.
She’s lucky to have her friend with the allotment who’s willing to share his produce with her – I need to find a George!
