Small fresh vegetables taste nice and often have a superior texture. The supermarket versions are expensive and often have lots of food miles attached to them so try growing your own.

Mini Veg Tips

• You can plant them close together as they will be picked earlier, –
• Harvest early and often, even small varieties will get bigger as they bage –
• Choose seed that is appropriate look for baby, mini or patio in the title-
• Turnip, fennel andkohl rabi can produce spindly roots if the soil is not kept moist
• Carrot varieties to try include ‘Nantes’, ‘Amini’, ‘Mignon’, ‘Minicor’
• Cut courgettes and squash when small at least 3 times per week, to increase yields.

Try small veg in your salads for something a bit different. Micro leaves are the new fad in designer restaurants. They are easy to grow in small spaces or on windowsills.

Special Plant Ideas

Try several leeks in the same hole
Cherry tomatoes can be a bountiful crop. Micro Tom, Tina or Gemma Tomatoes are new varieties to try.
Early picked baby beetroot don’t have time to get woody and hard.
Extend the season of Courgettes and Cucumbers by picking often and small. Try: ‘Ambassador’, ‘Moreno’, ‘Peter Pan’, ‘Storr’s Green’, ‘Sunburst’
Alpine Strawberries never get very big.
Try growing Shallots as opposed or as well as onions. Onion sets can be picked as young spring onions.