Every new year, I make a list of things that stole my heart in the garden. In 2020, fresh greens meant more than just nutrition; they were something I could control, a way to show care to the Earth and those around me, and they reminded me I could be resilient in spite of it all. From favourite flavours to looks that pulled a scheme together, this is what thrived on my organic patch.
Cime di rapa is by no means a new variety: it’s been kicking around since 1885. But to watch its exuberance for life – there’s no faster-growing green in the dark days of early spring – is to welcome a new world into your garden. Plus, sautéed with garlic and chilli flakes, you’ve got yourself supper. Sow now till the end of spring (from thomasetty.co.uk).
Another oldie is the parsley pea from the Heritage Seed Library . It produces delicious shoots like bunches of parsley. It’s short and doesn’t have tendrils to help it stand up, so needs plenty of support from twiggy sticks, but other than that it is a doddle to grow. Use it like parsley to make the base of many lovely salads. Sow from March onwards.
New for me this year were the elegant pink stems of the Shiraz Tall Top beetroot (centre) from brownenvelopeseeds.com, bred in the US specifically for organic growing. By last autumn, I had huge beetroots (and those tall tops, which are excellent to cook with) to keep me in good cheer.
The Beauregarde snow pea from chef Dan Barber’s row7seeds.com did everything the breeders promised: they kept their colour in the heat – both that of a long, dry summer, and in the pot once cooked. The plants are quite short and worked well in low wigwams in the middle of the border for easy picking. Sow from late spring.
Bare Necessities kale is another one from Brown Envelope Seeds. It has you humming its tune as you pick its plume-like leaves, so complex in their frills that it seemed no pest – not cabbage white, whitefly or cabbage aphid – could make head or tail of it. It’s sweet and tender, too. Perfectly good, once massaged with a little salt, acid and fat, to be eaten raw.
All of these seeds are from small, independent merchants that are committed to breeding and producing sustainable seed that is adapting and open to our climate-changing world. But small companies run out of seed quickly, so don’t dally.
When I think of eating peppery cime di rapa again this spring, or snapping those peas for the sweetness inside, I am investing in the future; I have hope. That is one of the secrets of seeds: when the world seems uncertain, they hold a promise of renewal.
